A casino has been granted permission to sell alcohol until 6am at the weekend.
The Victoria Casino on Edgware Road requested to amend its Saturday and Sunday hours to allow it to sell alcohol from 10am to 6am the next day, bringing it in-line with its trading on other days.
The applicant said the move would not bring more people into the premises, and that it is “not looking to change who our target customers are”.
Currently, the casino and its poker room, which operate under different licences and are both open 24/7, are able to sell alcohol between 10am and 4am on a Saturday/Sunday.
On a Sunday/Monday, the casino’s hours are listed as 12pm to 6am.
The two applications to Westminster City Council, filed by Grosvenor Casinos for the casino and The Gaming Group for the poker room, were seeking to amend their licences to enable alcohol sales between 10am and 6am on weekends. A series of conditions relating to the sale of alcohol were also requested to be removed.
Objections to the submission were received from both the Hyde Park Estate Association and the Marylebone ward councillors. The Association wrote the application of “very late/all night alcohol licences does not belong in areas next door to a high density of residential homes” adding: “We have to keep that balance between business and allowing those living close by to a reasonable peaceful night’s sleep.”
The submission from the Marylebone ward councillors, who while not listed in the objection are Barbara Arzymanow, Ian Rowley and Karen Scarborough, references the “continuous pushing for more from these and the neighbouring gambling premises on Edgware Road”.
“This is a Gambling Vulnerability Zone,” it continues. “And I wish to emphasise this point to the committee.”
At a Westminster Licensing Sub-Committee meeting at the end of August, councillors were told the submissions for the casino and its poker room were filed to clear up an ‘anomaly’ regarding the hours they could sell alcohol.
Peter Whur, legal counsel for the applicant, said the requests would bring them in line with the rest of the week, to which no responsible authority had objected.
“It won’t bring more people in, people are already there, the premises are open 24/7,” he said. “So in impact terms, it’s not going to add anything to the situation.”
Peter Turpin, General Manager at the casino, added it is not his intention to change anything about the way the premises runs, and that the applications are purely concerned with the hours alcohol could be sold.
He added: “We are just seeking to align that. We are not looking to change who our target customers are.”
Richard Brown, a solicitor at Citizens Advice Westminster representing the Hyde Park Estate Association, agreed the hours represent an anomaly.
However, he did raise concerns that the removal of a condition preventing alcohol being drunk in the bar areas after 2am could lead to a change in its operations.
