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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Helena Horton

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

Rupert Power in his bar in Soho
Rupert Power has been unable to get a licence extension for his jazz club Jack Solomons in London’s Soho. Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

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.

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