A Girvan pub will be allowed to open later on weekends despite the town’s community council saying it was ‘not needed and not wanted’.
Victory Bar landlord John Stewart had asked South Ayrshire Licensing Board to allow him to open up for an extra hour from Friday through to Monday in a bid to mitigate the financial pressure on the hospitality industry.
However, Ann McGinnis, chair of Girvan Community Council, raised an objection about the venue.
She told the board: “We mentioned five different instances where police have been called and feel that in this area, which is a very residential area, that the extra hours are certainly not needed and not wanted.”
Mr Stewart told the board that he informed police of any issues and countered the claim that police had been called out five times to deal with situations at the pub.
He said that some of the incidents were not in relation to his premises and that only one related to an incident after 1am.
Mr Stewart also said the pub had a full CCTV system and employed a door steward.
This was confirmed by Chief Inspector Kevin Lammie, who said that one of the calls had been made when the Victory Bar was closed.
The others, he said, had been the result of Mr Lammie seeking police support.
Chief Inspector Lammie added: “There is some prudence taking place there.”
He said that officers had attended the Victory Bar 26 times as part of wider licensing programme and had found that "most, if not all, of those were of a positive note."
Mr Stewart had explained the reasons for the application for a variation of hours on his licence.
He said: “The future of the licensed trade is very uncertain.
"I applied to give myself more opportunity, by opening later on the nights when we are busy and cater for people who want to go out in Girvan and don’t want to go out of the town. ”
The licensing board approved the extension of hours from Friday to Monday.
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