Plans to extend the hours of an all-night drinks delivery service in Leeds have been criticised by a councillor this week, who has branded the application "unnecessary and unwelcome."
Headingley Liberal Democrat James Monaghan fears that if the licensing application is approved, anti-social behaviour and late-night disturbances will increase.
The application has been submitted by Leeds Drinks Delivery Service, Ready Steady Store, Kirkstall Road. Information on the company's website shows it currently delivers 9pm to 6am Friday night to Sunday morning - but under its licensing application it plans to extend those times to open seven days a week between 8pm and 8am.
The Headingley councillor believes that the demand for the mobile delivery service would largely come from a minority of irresponsible residents, whose frequent late night parties already cause problems for their local communities.
Long-term efforts to tackle problems associated with existing nuisance from takeaways and bars – such as establishing a cumulative impact policy in Headingley – could also be undermined by increasing access to alcohol, according to Monaghan. He said:
"I am simply calling on the council to apply some common sense to this application. An all-night drinks delivery service running every night of the week is unnecessary, unwelcome and highly irresponsible.
"Many communities are already fed up with late-night disorder caused by existing takeaways and bars. Making alcohol even more accessible to an irresponsible few will just make these problems even worse.
"What is really frustrating, is that councillors, residents and the police have worked incredibly hard to tackle late night disturbances in areas like Headingley. Approving an application like this would completely undermine those efforts."
But a spokesman for Leeds Drinks Delivery Service refuted Monaghan's suggestions and said the company was a responsible one and had strict rules around drinks delivery. He said:
"We have got proper procedures in place. We're not delivering to 16-year-olds on park benches or anything like that, we always check ages. Sales are at our descretion - we won't deliver if we feel they have drunk too much already."There's no rubbish on the streets, no hassle or fighting, no city centre crowds - people are drinking in the privacy of their own homes."
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Clarification: The second paragraph of this article has been altered to make it clearer that the application initially referred to as 'daily' is for a seven-days-a-week service.
