Horsforth bar applies to stay open until 1.30am

An application to extend the opening hours of a popular bar in Horsforth will go before licensing chiefs this week.
Hemingway's Cuban Bar in Horsforth. (Pic: Google maps)Hemingway's Cuban Bar in Horsforth. (Pic: Google maps)
Hemingway's Cuban Bar in Horsforth. (Pic: Google maps)

Hemingway’s Cuban Bar in Town Street wants permission from Leeds City Council to stay open and serve alcohol until 1.30am on weekends.

However, the plan has been met with resistance, as it falls within an area that authorities believe is at risk of alcohol-related crime.

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The bar, formerly Sand Bar, has asked to extend the sale of alcohol hours on Fridays and Saturdays to 11am-1:30am, one hour after the current closing time.

Applicant Soul Bars and Restaurants Ltd also wants to extend the entertainment licence to the same time as the bar’s proposed new closing time, meaning live and recorded music would be permitted until 1.30am.

But the site falls in one of the city’s “cumulative impact areas”, which police and the council believe are at risk of alcohol-related crime.

A letter to the applicant from Leeds City Council’s environmental health department stated: “We believe that your application does not give enough information about how you intend to meet an important objective of the licence – which is to prevent a public nuisance.

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“The hours of operation applied for would set a precedent in an area already served by late opening venues.

“If the precedent was set and other businesses granted such hours then there would be a significant added impact of noise disturbance deeper into the early morning hours to the surrounding residential premises.

“(There is) potential for disturbance from customers leaving the premises and walking home through nearby residential areas very late at night causing disturbance to local residents.”

West Yorkshire Police had asked the venue to agree to not allow anymore customers into the venue after 1am. The applicant agreed to the changes.

The application will be heard at the Leeds City Council licensing sub-committee on Tuesday.