"Absolutely ridiculous": Warwick district pubs' frustration at council over rules stopping them showing England's potential 1am World Cup game
Pubs in Leamington and Kenilworth have expressed their anger and frustration over rules which will prevent them from staying open to show England’s potential World Cup game which would kick-off at 1am.
The Hod Carrier in Whitnash and The Lion in Kenilworth are among the Warwick district pubs which failed to submit applications for Temporary Event Notices (TENs) to Warwick District Council (WDC) before the deadline last Friday. But they both said that due to the uncertainty over the fixtures, the council could be more flexible.
The TENs would have allowed the pubs to stay open to show England’s Round of 16 game - which the Three Lions would play in Mexico City at 1am on Monday July 6 should they beat DR Congo in the Round of 32 fixture tomorrow (Wednesday July 1 at 5pm.)
On their Facebook pages yesterday (Monday June 29), both pubs put out the same statement saying: “Absolutely ridiculous.
“We've been informed that if England get through after Wednesday's game, we will not be allowed to open because the council [WDC] says we should have submitted a TEN [application] by last Friday.
"How exactly were we supposed to know last Friday whether England would finish in first or second place and when games would be? It's impossible to plan for something that hadn't happened yet.”
They add: “Once again, this feels like another example of the complete lack of support for pubs and hospitality businesses.
"We’re expected to pay ever-increasing business rates, licence fees and other costs, yet when an opportunity arises for us to bring in much-needed trade and support our local community, we're blocked by bureaucracy.”
WDC said, while it appreciates the group stage did present multiple possible dates for the next fixtures it has processed 20 successful TENs from licensed premises for the Round of 16 match.
A WDC spokesman said: “A TEN submitted outside the statutory notice period (a minimum of five clear, or full, working days between submission and the day of the event) can’t be accepted as a valid notification.
“This cannot include the day the TEN is submitted or the day of the event.
"The legislation does not give WDC any discretion to accept a TEN that does not meet the notice requirements.
“Now the remaining fixtures are a lot clearer, we’d like to remind any business that wishes to extend their opening hours to submit a TEN application as soon as possible.”