As of today (7 February), pubs, clubs, off-licences and bars in the UK can submit applications for extended opening hours via the new alcohol and public entertainment licences.

If successful, extended opening hours will come into effect from November.

The new licences are part of the largest shake-up of British licensing laws to take place in more than 40 years.

Culture secretary Tessa Jowell said: “The vast majority of people should be treated like the adults they are. It is ridiculous that the government should deny the entire population the right to drink after 11pm. We will give adults the freedom they deserve and yobs the tough treatment they deserve.”

Francis Patton, the customer services director for Punch Taverns – which operates 7,800 sites throughout its UK estate – said: “Licensing reform is going to bring tremendous benefit to this industry and greatly improve customer choice.

“Retailers will now have the flexibility to make an informed decision about when they want to trade based on the dynamics of their individual businesses and the needs of their local customer base. At the same time, customers will not be all forced onto the streets together every night at 11pm, minimising the potential for disruption.”

However, a company survey has found that less than 1 per cent of Punch’s pubs are interested in 24 hour opening.

Chief executive Giles Thorley said the majority of pubs within the portfolio are instead more likely to apply for extensions of a few hours around their busiest trading periods.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has also denied that it has given local authorities the go-ahead to end cut-price drink deals.

The OFT was responding to “inaccurate” reports in The Guardian newspaper, claiming the OFT wrote a circular to local authorities, ruling that selective price-fixing in recognised trouble hotspots for drink could be permitted. If this ruling was carefully targeted, it would not breach EU competition rules designed to protect consumer interests and could potentially make licences in trouble hotspots dependent on applicants agreeing to end price-fixing on their drinks.

The Guardian claimed that, in a circular to local authorities, the OFT had said: “Any measures taken need to be proportionate, targeted to particular localities and premises and consequently, to particular types of promotions.”

However, a spokesperson from the OFT told Leisure Opportunities: “We have not given a green light to price fixing. This is inaccurate. What we have said is that imposing minimum prices is not a proportionate means of curbing excessive alcohol consumption.” Details: www.oft.gov.uk, www.culture.gov.uk, wwwpunchtaverns.com