Curbs on vertical drinking in Soho pubs to go ahead as Khan criticises council’s ‘breathtaking arrogance’

People drinking outside a pub in Soho. Westminster council has proposed that new licences should be granted to pubs and bars in which people are seated rather than standing. Photograph: Mike Kemp/In Pictures/Getty Images

Sadiq Khan has criticised the “breathtaking arrogance” of Westminster council, which has kept restrictions on vertical drinking in Soho and an effective ban on new bars and pubs in the area.

The mayor of London has accused the Conservative-led council of “ignoring” the responses to a consultation into its new licensing policy. The vast majority of respondents, 81%, disagreed with the council’s “cumulative impact zone” which decrees that applications for bars and pubs in the West End of London, one of Europe’s most famous nightlife districts, will be refused unless in exceptional circumstances. Eighty-four per cent said the licensing policy would be bad for business.