Senior police chiefs have warned that a government decision to allow pubs across England and Wales to extend their opening hours during the World Cup will lead to increased disorder — after ministers pressed ahead with the move against the explicit advice of the National Police Chiefs’ Council.
The Home Office has granted a blanket licensing exemption permitting pubs to serve beyond their normal closing times for England and Scotland matches throughout the tournament, which is being staged across the United States, Mexico and Canada. Many fixtures involving home nations will kick off late in the evening UK time, prompting the government to intervene in order to accommodate fans.
But Mark Roberts, Chief Constable of Cheshire and the NPCC’s lead for football policing, made clear the decision had been taken over the objections of police chiefs. Asked how the Home Office had responded to those concerns, he said the answer had simply been: “Yeah, we’re going ahead with it.”
Mr Roberts said the existing Licensing Act already contained provision for individual pubs to apply for extensions on a case-by-case basis, and that the blanket approach was unnecessary and counterproductive. “We would have preferred normal procedures,” he said. “Those places that are well run, in sensible areas, will benefit from it. If you allow everyone to do it, the place gets saturated, and it could cause some issues.”
While he stopped short of predicting widespread unrest, his warnings were pointed. “I don’t think all hell’s going to break loose. Let’s be sensible about this. Summer’s a busy period for us anyway. We recognise in any tournament, there’s an increase in various demands associated with it. But if England progress, as we hope they do, and the licensing is basically a blanket exemption — common sense tells us this will give us more problems.”
The practical consequences for officers would be significant, he suggested. Forces would need to scale up later shifts, potentially keeping officers on duty into the early hours — pulling them away from their normal community duties. Mr Roberts also warned that drawing police resources away from local areas was directly linked to an increase in domestic violence cases.
“We’ll cope. We always cope,” he said. “But this would extend it, so it means that officers will work potentially late shifts into the early hours. We would have liked to do it in a more controlled manner, to allow the benefits for the licensed trade, not just pass the buck on to policing to make it work.”
The Home Office was approached for comment.
The warnings come as demand for World Cup viewing venues is already running significantly ahead of previous tournaments. England do not play their opening match against Croatia until 17 June, but advance bookings for pubs and fan zones — particularly those with large outdoor spaces — are being secured at pace. In London, the Big Penny Social in Walthamstow, a large beer hall with an outdoor area, is already reporting strong demand for England’s opening game, which kicks off at 9pm GMT. The venue is charging £12 per ticket, with space becoming increasingly limited.
