The government has accepted a series of amendments to the Business and Planning Bill, tabled in the House of Lords, to restrict the selling of alcohol after 11pm. The Bill originally had no such restrictions, causing many locals to fear that it would lead to streets in the West End turning into large outside bars.
Commenting on the government amending the Bill, Member of Parliament for the Cities of London & Westminster, Nickie Aiken said:
“I was delighted to be sitting in the House to hear that the government had listened to the concerns of people living in the West End, local groups, Westminster City Council as well as myself and accepted the Lords amendments to the Business and Planning Bill. It has been a huge team effort to secure these amendments.
“I have been working hard behind the scenes, lobbying ministers, alerting them to impact that the Bill could have had on the West End. There was a real risk that it could have been turned into a gigantic off licence which would have impacted local people’s quality of life and threatened their safety.
“Thankfully, this has now been avoided.”
