'We've had our fill of 24-hour boozing'
Labour Lambeth has been slammed after permitting almost 90 venues to sell booze around the clock.
More venues in the borough can sell booze 24 hours a day than in Westminster, where just 13 hotels have permission to serve alcohol all the time. More than 300 other premises in Lambeth have been granted licences to sell booze into the early hours.
The extended opening hours of clubs, pubs and off-licences has led to an increase in drink-related calls to the emergency services. And the problem is so bad that the London Ambulance Service introduced a special ambulance to the borough - known as the "booze bus" - to deal with intoxicated revellers and free-up other vehicles to respond to more serious emergencies.
Conservative Leader John Whelan has urged Lambeth to call time on granting more round-the-clock licences after it emerged there are more 24-hour premises in the borough than the whole of the West End.
He said: "The consequences of binge-drinking are very serious - fights, intimidation, shop windows smashed in, communities vandalised.
"Lambeth council has been content to unleash 24-hour drinking on previously quiet residential areas in Lambeth, especially Clapham and Herne Hill, which is only making this problem worse.
"While the minority have turned our town centres into no-go areas, it is the majority who has suffered. It is time to call time on 24-hour licences."
More venues in the borough can sell booze 24 hours a day than in Westminster, where just 13 hotels have permission to serve alcohol all the time. More than 300 other premises in Lambeth have been granted licences to sell booze into the early hours.
The extended opening hours of clubs, pubs and off-licences has led to an increase in drink-related calls to the emergency services. And the problem is so bad that the London Ambulance Service introduced a special ambulance to the borough - known as the "booze bus" - to deal with intoxicated revellers and free-up other vehicles to respond to more serious emergencies.
Conservative Leader John Whelan has urged Lambeth to call time on granting more round-the-clock licences after it emerged there are more 24-hour premises in the borough than the whole of the West End.
He said: "The consequences of binge-drinking are very serious - fights, intimidation, shop windows smashed in, communities vandalised.
"Lambeth council has been content to unleash 24-hour drinking on previously quiet residential areas in Lambeth, especially Clapham and Herne Hill, which is only making this problem worse.
"While the minority have turned our town centres into no-go areas, it is the majority who has suffered. It is time to call time on 24-hour licences."
posted by Cllr John Whelan on 13:15
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