SOCCER fans were today dealt a World Cup blow after magistrates ruled pubs will not serve drinks for morning games.
And justices were described as 'kill joys' for refusing extended licences to serve pints at breakfast in Blackburn, Hyndburn and the Ribble Valley even though boozers in other parts of the country will be open -- including Burnley. Magistrates there have said they are accepting applications from licensees to serve alcohol in the morning but they have not received any as yet.
Derek Haworth, chairman of Blackburn Licensing Victuallers' Association, Blackburn, said magistrates were 'party poopers'.
Nine pubs in Northamptonshire have been granted licences by local magistrates to open from breakfast time for early games and Birmingham has also been given the go-ahead.
Justices in Bristol and Banbury refused applications sparking a High Court appeal by pub operator Scottish and Newcastle.
Games in Japan and South Korea will kick off at 6.30am,
10.30am and 12.30pm. A spokesman for Blackburn Magistrates Licensing section said: "We have been advised by the local Licensing, Betting and Gaming Committee that we will not be accepting applications although we haven't had any."
LVA chairman Mr Haworth said choice of opening should be left up to individual licensees, as it was on New Year's Eve.
He said: "People seem to enjoy throwing spanners in works and stopping licensees from doing anything at all.
"They are a set of killjoys who seem to be getting off on putting strict regulations on what we do.
"There is an old saying that if there is a rule good enough for one then it is good enough for everyone and I strongly believe that.
"Why are pubs in Northampton allowed to give customers what they want when we can't?
"We should be allowed to survey our customers and decide if it would be worth while opening or not."
Pub landlords who have called the move unfair and biased.
Trevor Pothecary, manager of The Volunteers, Clayton-le-Moors, said: "It is a national sport with a national team, so surely that accounts as a special occasion.
"Lots of my customers have asked if they can come in just for breakfast to watch the game.
"Not all pubs would open so I don't see why they can't just let the ones who want to open, open."
John Burke, landlord of the Albion, Clayton-Le-Moors, said: "I have already been inundated with requests to open early but now I know that I definitely can't give my customers what they want.
"It's a real shame that we have to take on this old fashioned view."
Geoff Sutcliffe, landlord of The Rising Sun, Wilpshire, wants to see the law changed but has said there is no point blaming the magistrates because they were just doing their job.
The police said that if every pub in Blackburn were allowed to open in the morning then there might be a problem but they added that would be unlikely.
Chief Inspector Neil Smith, of Blackburn Police, said: "We haven't yet had any applications but, even when we do, they will be treated in the normal way on an individual basis.
"Each one will be looked at on its own merit. "
Paul Howarth, retail director of Thwaites Breweries, Blackburn, said it was disappointing for landlords who wanted to open earlier.
He said: "Thwaites have a number of managed houses and it is something we would love to be able to do and we are taking a real interest in the present legal process that is ongoing with Scottish and Newcastle."
Whitbread spokesman Dan Waugh suggested an alternative for people who wanted to watch football away from home.
He said: "We are going to be showing the football in all of our health clubs.
"It is unfortunate that people in Blackburn can't nip down to their local pub and watch the football because that is what people like to do.
"Most people enjoy a pub atmosphere when the game is on which they are not going to get."
The booze ban is made under an obscure act following a case in Leicester in 1978.
But Sid Brighton, chief executive of the Justices' Clerks' Society, said: "It is the view that in the interests of consistency this case law should be applied, although it is possible that it may be challenged in that times have moved on since 1978 and a more liberal attitude may be taken to the watching, in licensed premises, of large screen televised matches."
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