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Brighton could soon be served beer for breakfast

12:40pm Monday 15th March 2010 in


Pubs could soon be opening for beer at breakfast.

Pub chain JD Wetherspoon, which has 15 branches across in Sussex, has announced plans to open almost all of its bars from 7am next month and bartenders will start pouring pints of beer from 9am from April 28.

Three of the pubs wanting to open their doors two hours early fall within the area that could be covered by an extended alcohol crackdown zone.

As revealed in The Argus on Friday Brighton and Hove City Council is considering doubling the size of the zone in which it is harder for pubs and off-licences to be granted licences to sell alcohol.

The chain's West Street branch, the Bright Helm, is already in city’s Cummulative Impact Area, the part of the city faced with the most alcohol related disorder.

If councillors on Brighton and Hove City Council's licensing committee agree the plans, the chain's pubs in George Street and at Brighton Marina could also fall within the restricted area.

However, the chain said the early opening hours were more about selling coffee and breakfast.

A spokesman said: “This is very much about serving a breakfast and coffee.'

He added: 'Only about 1per cent of people who come in at 9am will want an alcoholic drink and we are happy to serve them, why shouldn't we?

“But this is not what we are after, we want to target the breakfast market.”

Brighton and Hove director of public health Tom Scanlon said: “I think it is very important that the impact on public health should be taken into consideration.

“We have a high number of alcohol related admissions to hospital.”

Comments(23)

censored says...
12:44pm Mon 15 Mar 10

Who wouldn't want a full english served with the aroma of last night's beer eminating from the sticky carpet?

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Brightonscouse2 says...
12:49pm Mon 15 Mar 10

Why on one hand do the governmnet tell us we drink too much and then think about letting pubs like Wetherspoons open this early?

Why would anyone want to drink at that time in the morning?

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Falkenna says...
12:57pm Mon 15 Mar 10

Wetherspoon's Marina already opens for breakfast, it's very popular, and quite pleasant to sit by the water. I don't see why they need to serve beer in order to open earlier -- it may put me off going.

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simon195 says...
1:04pm Mon 15 Mar 10

alcos starting earlier then, gosh who the hell needs to drink at that time of day ??? should be out working people, not drinking beer at that hr of the day, it just shows how desp greedy these pub chains are, hold your haed in shame, witherspoons, still the pubs are full of dossers drooning over their qiud ten a pint bitter, who would would wanna go in a witherspoons pub ???

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BringBackGoodGrammar says...
1:09pm Mon 15 Mar 10

simon195 wrote:
alcos starting earlier then, gosh who the hell needs to drink at that time of day ??? should be out working people, not drinking beer at that hr of the day, it just shows how desp greedy these pub chains are, hold your haed in shame, witherspoons, still the pubs are full of dossers drooning over their qiud ten a pint bitter, who would would wanna go in a witherspoons pub ???
Simon, have you been at the shandy?

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David523 says...
1:23pm Mon 15 Mar 10

Your'e all being blind (deliberately?). The more easily available alcohol is, the more problems will result from it. Everything proves this. Statistics, news, etc. Try stepping outside your own narrow experience of things and look at the facts. Just because YOU haven't encountered difficulties, doesn't mean others haven't.

Wonder how many of you positive 'Posters' are in fact linked with Wetherspoons, a place WELL-KNOWN for violence and trouble and a chav clientele...

More serving time for alcohol = more problems.

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Mike D P says...
1:23pm Mon 15 Mar 10

censored wrote:
Who wouldn't want a full english served with the aroma of last night's beer eminating from the sticky carpet?
Laughed so much at this i spilt larger on my poached egg, used the toast to mop it up though!

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Brightonscouse2 says...
1:33pm Mon 15 Mar 10

David523 wrote:
Your'e all being blind (deliberately?). The more easily available alcohol is, the more problems will result from it. Everything proves this. Statistics, news, etc. Try stepping outside your own narrow experience of things and look at the facts. Just because YOU haven't encountered difficulties, doesn't mean others haven't. Wonder how many of you positive 'Posters' are in fact linked with Wetherspoons, a place WELL-KNOWN for violence and trouble and a chav clientele... More serving time for alcohol = more problems.
Hve you just read a different load of comments than the one's above. Most if not ALL are critisising this idea and Wetherspoons for inplementing it.

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OP8 says...
1:37pm Mon 15 Mar 10

wasn't there an article last week about alcohol consumption / availability being cracked down on in Brighton?

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BrightonHolistics says...
2:24pm Mon 15 Mar 10

This is the last thing Brighton needs; Brighton needs to sort itself out before it ends up like Blackpool. In one advert we are being told to stop drinking and then this happens. The 24 hour drink license should have never been passed.

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kkj says...
2:32pm Mon 15 Mar 10

The fact is that you can, and always could, drink at 9 in the morning (or earlier, should you so desire) regardless of whether or not pubs are open. Those that have a predisposition for early-morning alcohol consumption are now just be provided with another source. I'm not necessarily in favour of this, I don't particularly like either of the West St or George St outlets, but all they are doing is exploiting an existing market. Have any of the people complaining actually opposed the application for a licence to serve alcohol at 9 a.m.? Or any licence application?

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Spanners says...
3:03pm Mon 15 Mar 10

According to AA 1in 13 (or about 7.7%) are dependant on drink. So if only 1% of wetherspoons customers want a drink at 9am then it seems to me that the numbers prove that they are catering for top/worst 15% of alchoholics.

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East Brunswick says...
3:52pm Mon 15 Mar 10

WHY???
With the problems we have in the City with Booze why add to it?

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dogs-ball says...
4:46pm Mon 15 Mar 10

The only change this chain will be making is to open earlier, 7am, to sell breakfasts and non alcoholic drinks. They have opened at 9am for alcohol for ages. It is nice sitting at the Marina in the mornings eating breakfast; but going to George Street means being surrounded by some right old soaks at 9am! Although I have never seen anyone young drinking at that time. We visited a Wetherspoons in Bath while on holiday and that was a dreadfull place. It was almost next to a homeless hostel, and they were shoulder to shoulder at the bar by 9.05am. I would use the Marina for an earlier breakfast if it made the change.

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Sweepster says...
5:38pm Mon 15 Mar 10

Brightonscouse2 wrote:
Why on one hand do the governmnet tell us we drink too much and then think about letting pubs like Wetherspoons open this early?

Why would anyone want to drink at that time in the morning?
'cos you might have been on a late shift and finished at 7am?

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yorkie44 says...
5:47pm Mon 15 Mar 10

I'm rather partial to a Bucks Fizz with my Kedgeree.

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pun master says...
9:23pm Mon 15 Mar 10

Well the council's crackdown on Brighton's booze culture lasted a long time then....

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Rastus Watermelon says...
10:40pm Mon 15 Mar 10

Who on earth is going to order pints at 9am? Only people with a serious alcohol problem who'd be drinking somewhere else anyway.

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Jewson Smithee says...
11:23pm Mon 15 Mar 10

You have no idea how entertaining public houses serving beer in the morning is. I like nothing more then to go for a breakfast G&T after mucking the horses out in the morning. It's so entertaining to to see the ex staff in such amusing form. The swearing is so incredibly close to my great aunt Doris it reminds me of my childhood. The only thing missing is the lack of smoke, though if I wanted that I'd just stay in the billiards room with second cousin Humphrey.

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Angryoldman says...
8:00am Tue 16 Mar 10

There is already 24 hour pub sales and drinking in Brighton, so what's the big deal?
And as for " Who would want to drink at that time of the morning"
Ever heard of an alcoholic? The city is full of them!
At least the ones in denial can pretend their just having their breakfast.

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Christophe Hawtree says...
9:38am Tue 16 Mar 10

The state of the lavatory floor in the George Street branch makes you wonder about the condition of the rest of the place.

That branch and the West Street one resemble drawings by George Grosz. Only the Marina one is worthwhile, and, of course, that means going to the concrete bunker that is the Marina.

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kingruss says...
11:49am Tue 16 Mar 10

Jesus! your making it seem like you can't walk anywhere in Brighton without having to step over drunks - It's nowhere near as bad as that, Granted there are drunken scuffles and arrests due to alcohol in the city centre in evenings but you show me a City that doesn't have this problem.

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Rastus Watermelon says...
11:19am Wed 17 Mar 10

kingruss wrote:
Jesus! your making it seem like you can't walk anywhere in Brighton without having to step over drunks - It's nowhere near as bad as that, Granted there are drunken scuffles and arrests due to alcohol in the city centre in evenings but you show me a City that doesn't have this problem.
Weyhey! Some sense!

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