'Wild West' concerns as venues operate outside hours

The City of Durham has over 230 licensed premises, the council said

A historic city has been likened to the "Wild West" after venues were found to be trading later than they were supposed to.

A report by the City of Durham Parish Council also said the city centre was "saturated" with premises that had no planning restrictions on their operating hours.

Council members have called for better regulations and stricter enforcement, following their investigation.

Durham County Council, which is responsible for licensing, has pledged to continue working with businesses to ensure they follow the rules.

'Inadequate regulation'

An investigation of pubs, restaurants and takeaways, commissioned by the parish council, found 26 venues were trading later than their permitted licensing agreements allowed, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

A report said the city centre was “saturated” with 232 active licensed premises but 144 did not have any planning restrictions in terms of operating hours.

It also identified a "significant number" of discrepancies between the hours some were able to operate based on their planning permissions versus the hours permitted by licensing, which the council claimed would lead to venues abusing the system.

Durham City Parish councillor Susan Walker said: "This report lays bare the inadequate regulation we have in place in the city at present.

“[It] clearly shows that planning and licensing are failing to communicate with one another.

"The fact that premises seem to be able to operate when and how they like is edging into the ‘Wild West’ territory quite frankly.”

Ian Harrison, Durham County Council's business compliance manager, said: "We take any breaches in conditions very seriously and will continue our work with businesses to ensure premises only trade within the hours for which they are approved."