York MP's idea for hen and stag zone in city dismissed

Large groups drinking put families off visiting the city centre, Rachael Maskell said

Creating a zone to limit the impact of stag and hen parties in York is not practical, a city councillor has said.

York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell has previously warned the party culture in the city puts off residents and tourists.

She said confining it to one part of the city would create safe places for families to enjoy.

Lib Dem councillor Darryl Smalley said licensing was regulated and the council had to obey the law.

Ms Maskell made the suggestion to address what she believed is the "devastation" stag and hen parties bring to York.

"This is the biggest reason why local residents aren't coming into the city centre," she said.

"The council have just let it run, the licensing, wherever people want to set up an establishment it seem licences are granted.

"As opposed to a small city like York saying 'this is where the night-time economy is' in one corner, but we can open up the rest as a family-friendly city."

Hospitality employs about 20,000 people in York

Mr Smalley, who is responsible for culture and leisure on the council executive, said only a minority of those visiting the city in the evening behaved inappropriately.

"I would be surprised if we could come up with, and residents would agree on, where you would zone as a party bit of the city," he said.

He pointed out the council has to abide by the law in terms of licensing rules and decisions were not "entirely" in its control.

Mr Smalley said the hospitality sector employed 20,000 people in the city and Ms Maskell's language was "unhelpful" for an industry recovering from the pandemic.

He said the council was working with partners, including the police, to ensure York remained a safe place for everyone and said the city was a "victim of its own success".

"People come to York because it is a safe place to have an enjoyable evening out," he said.

Ms Maskell said the city had to consider the value it gets from tourism and the kind of tourism it wanted to promote and more needed to be done to tackle the "drinking culture".

Matt Mavir, who runs Last Night Of Freedom, which organises stag and hen parties, said it was unfair to single out these groups.

He said: "Stags and hens are very visible and all too easy to blame, would you cast the same doubts on other groups of people?"