World Cup more special than Jubilee, say licensees

The football World Cup is more of a special event than the Queen's Golden Jubilee, says a new survey of pub licensees.

A Punch Pub Company survey of its 3,500 licensees showed that 84% will be staging promotions for the World Cup, compared with 63% for the Jubilee.

The Magistrates' Association issued guidelines in February saying that the World Cup should not be treated as a special occasion for licensing purposes and any applications for extended hours should be refused.

Drinking hours have been extended to 1am for the Jubilee on 3 June, and the Magistrates' Association has not objected to speical licences being issued to keep pubs open even longer.

"It is obvious that the football forms an intrinsic part of pub culture and the World Cup is the pinnacle of all sports," said Punch's head of marketing Geoff Brown.

Last week Scottish & Newcastle was given a hearing date in the High Court to argue that the Magistrates' Association has got it wrong as it is following a precedent set in 1978.