A Brighton pub has had a request for later hours turned down after its neighbours and Sussex Police objected.
But it can serve food until later in the evening and use a microphone for pub quizzes instead of a loudhaler.
The Camelford Arms in Camelford Street wanted to serve alcohol until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays and stay open until 2.30pm on both nights.
But a Brighton and Hove City Council licensing panel said that it should stick to its current 1am cut-off for last orders.
The panel, sitting at Hove Town Hall, said that while the pub was well run, it was in the council’s “cumulative impact area”.
Licensing restrictions are tougher in the centre of Brighton because of the cumulative impact of having so many licensed premises – in particular, pubs, clubs and bars.
And last year the council extended the extent of the cumulative impact area while toughening up many of the restrictions governing applications for new or varied licences in the area.
The aim was to reduce crime and disorder, noise and anti-social behaviour.
Warning
The licensing panel was told that the Camelford Arms had been the subject of complaints about noise, with a warning notice issued last month.
Inspector Roy Apps, from Sussex Police, said that new licences in the St James’s Street area, which includes Camelford Street, would not permit last orders as late as 1am – let alone later.
He said that people who had spent an extra hour drinking would be more likely to make a noise or contribute to the crime and disorder afflicting the area rather than less likely.
Nick Perkins, the pub’s solicitor, told the panel that the extra hour would mean a more gradual dispersal of dozens of customers rather than at present.
Alistair Mackinnon-Musson, the pub’s owner, said that an extra hour would encourage many customers to stay in the pub and then go home than head to Legends or the Bulldog near by.
This, he said, would support the council’s licensing objectives, including reducing noise and problematic behaviour.
Inspector Apps told the panel: “We have had minor complaints, the most recent if which was on Saturday (14 April).
“The complainant said: ‘There was an altercation and a glass was thrown in the direction of my house. It didn’t cause any damage but there was broken glass everywhere.’
