Businesses that sell alcohol, host music and entertainment, and sell food and drinks past 11pm at night require a licence from Reading Borough Council to operate.
These include restaurants, takeaways, convenience stores, pubs, bars and clubs.
A licence can be reviewed in an application to the council if a business is in breach of the four licensing objectives, which are the prevention of crime and disorder, the prevention of public nuisance, the protection of children from harm and public safety.
At these hearings, a panel of three councillors are given the option to adjust licensing conditions to make them more stringent, suspend licenseable activities for a maximum of three months or revoke the licence entirely.
A recent case saw the licence for the Gun Street Garden club being suspended for five weeks after its ‘The Playboy Mansion’ event on Easter Sunday.
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Any business that is subject to a review has the right to appeal to a Magistrates’ Court.
Once an appeal is lodged, a business is allowed to operate on its existing licence until a hearing is held.
However, of the appeals lodged in Reading, nearly all of them have been resolved with some form of settlement outside of court, it can be revealed.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked for the results of all licensing appeals from April 2022 to now.
Of the six appeals, five were settled outside of court using a ‘consent order’ agreed between the business and the council.
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This was the case for Favourite Chicken & Pizza, Premier and Bar Iguana, Milanoz, a review of the Gun Street Garden licence last year and Mosaic’s Peri Peri.
Meanwhile, the operators of Yuvraj’s Mini Market in East Reading won an appeal after a staff member was accused of selling stolen alcohol by Thames Valley Police.
Explaining the agreements between the council and businesses outside of court, a council spokesperson said: said: “Consent orders are agreed on a case-by-case basis when we believe the offer made by the licence holder will successfully achieve the promotion of Reading’s licensing objectives.
“From 2022 to today, the council has handled 168 licensing applications which could potentially have been appealed.
“We are confident the council’s licensing policy is robust and that the council carries out its functions under the Licensing Act 2003 with a view to promoting the four licensing objectives.”
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The results of the appeals with the addresses can be seen below:
2022/2023:
Favourite Chicken & Pizza – 10 St. Mary’s Butts – Consent Order
Premier and Bar Iguana – 11 St. Mary’s Butts – Consent Order
2023/2024:
Milanoz – 136 Wokingham Road – Consent Order – Read the full story here
Gun Street Garden – 5 Gun Street – Consent Order – Read the story here
Yuvraj’s Mini Market – 9 Manchester Road – Appeal Won – Read the full story here
2024/2025:
Mosaic’s Peri Peri – 51 Wokingham Road – Consent Order (yet to be formally served on the court) – Read the story here
