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Camden News - by JAMIE WELHAM
Published: 30 July 2009
 
‘It’s like Ibiza’: hostel bids for 24-hour booze

Police opposed to round-the-clock bar


A BAR and hostel is bidding to win Camden Town’s first round-the-clock alcohol licence.
Belushi’s in Camden High Street will learn at a licensing hearing tonight (Thursday) at the Town Hall whether their request to be able to serve drinks 24 hours a day will be successful.
The bar will potentially be open all hours to guests at the hostel – a favourite among Australian backpackers – if councillors approve the application.
It already holds a 2am licence on Thursdays and at weekends and can stay open until 3am to the public.
The chain, styled on American diners, already has other outlets across the country and venues in Amsterdam and Bruges.
A spokesman for Beds and Bars, the group that run the chain, said the company would not comment until after the hearing but confirmed the Camden branch was its only hostel without a 24-hour drinking licence.
In the application, Beds and Bars has asked licensing chiefs to consider allowing them to serve their hostel residents and guests drinks all night.
But councillors will also take onboard the views of the police when considering the request and have been asked by officers to vote against it when they meet to discuss the plans.
In a letter to the Town Hall, Camden police said: “Allowing residents to invite their guests to the venue would be unpoliceable in that there would be very little control over who was to be allowed entry into the venue and would inevitably lead to large disputes over entry.”
It added: “Any extension to the terminal hours at this premises will only lead to an increase in the chances of crime and disorder by encouraging even more people to come to and remain in this densely populated area throughout the night.”
Rob MacDonald, who lives nearby, has also filed an objection, council papers show.
He said: “This area, which is highly residential, is now becoming like Ibiza, as the whole licensing authority is giving out late applications to all who seek it.

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