Bedtime blues: London ‘killing off nightlife’ as UK city with strictest licensing rules

People drink outside the Dog and Duck in Soho. A residents’ group has vowed to oppose any new bars or restaurants opening in the central London neighbourhood. Photograph: fotoVoyager/Getty View image in fullscreen People drink outside the Dog and Duck in Soho. A residents’ group has vowed to oppose any new bars or restaurants opening in the central London neighbourhood. Photograph: fotoVoyager/Getty Bedtime blues: London ‘killing off nightlife’ as UK city with strictest licensing rules Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds are experiencing after-hours boom as a result of more lenient rules London has the earliest council-mandated bedtime of any other city in the UK as a result of policies in nightlife districts that oppose any new bar or restaurant opening past 11pm. These strict restrictions on pubs and bars are “killing off nightlife” in the capital, experts have said, while other cities including Manchester , Birmingham and Leeds are experiencing an after-hours boom because they have more lenient rules. Councils across the capital have “core hours policies” in place, meaning that when new venues wish to open, the licensing committee is directed to refuse any openings past a certain time. In Hackney – the east London borough previously known for its vibrant nightlife – this curfew is set at 11pm on weeknights and midnight on weekends. View image in fullscreen A taxi drives past people gathering outside a bar in Hackney in London. The curfew is set at 11pm on weeknights and midnight on weekends. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Westminster council, which is in charge of Soho and the West End, London’s nightlife district, has a core hours policy meaning applications for new bars and restaurants opening past 11.30pm on weeknights and midnight on weekends are refused. The council has defined its main nightlife district as what it calls a “cumulative impact zone” (CIZ), which means it will refuse all licences for any new bar or pub unless there are “exceptional circumstances involved”. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, recently spoke out after a residents’ group vowed to oppose any new bars or restaurants opening in Soho. In Islington, home to the O2 Academy, Sadler’s Wells theatre and bustling Upper Street, the council has a presumption to refuse licences past 11pm on weekdays and midnight at weekends. Camden, with its famous market and rock and jazz clubs where figures such as Amy Winehouse used to party until the early hours, has a new core hours policy imposed which means licences will generally be refused after midnight Monday to Thursday, 12.30 Friday to Saturday and 11pm on Sunday. View image in fullscreen Amy Winehouse on a night out in Camden in 2007, when the London borough was renowned for its nightlife. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian Rules in many areas of London are much stricter than any other UK city. Most, including Manchester, Liverpool and Birmingham , do not have any blanket restrictions at all. The ones that do, including Leeds, h