Edinburgh pubs lose bid for early Sunday opening
A complete ban on pubs opening from 9am on Sundays has been branded as "disappointing" by the Scottish Beer and Pub Association.
On-trade businesses will only be allowed to sell alcohol from noon, following a decision by the City of Edinburgh Licensing Board not to allow 26 pubs in the city to open at 9am.
The move comes despite the fact that the City Council's own policy allows the sale of alcohol from 9am on a Sunday.
Patrick Browne, chief executive of the SBPA said: "It is very unlikely that many pubs in Edinburgh would have wanted to open every Sunday but there is a case for allowing some premises to do that to allow them to better cater for Edinburgh's tourists.
"At the very least the Edinburgh board should now refund the fees paid by the 26 licensed premises that lodged applications to trade on a Sunday morning as allowed by the board's policy, given that the board have effectively turned their own policy on its head by rejecting their applications which were submitted in good faith."
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By Neil Gerrard
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