AN IRVINE nightclub has applied to stay open later on Boxing Day night.

Pitchers Bar and Nightclub on Bank Street will have their case heard at North Ayrshire Council's licensing board meeting on Monday, November 28.

The club, which has frequently put on large scale celebrations for Boxing Day in the past, will look to stay open for an additional two hours.

This application would be for a temporary extension, with hours to be extended for one night only.

The proposal is to extend the premises' licensed hours on that night through to 3am on Tuesday, December 27.

The premises already has 'nightclub' hours, therfore can operate yearly until 1am Sunday to Wednesday and until 2.30am Thursday through until Saturday.

Applications like this are usually dealt with by board officers under 'delegated powers' legislation, and are rarely referred to the board itself.

They will be referred to the board if either there are police objections, or the proposal is outside board policy.

In this case there are no police objections as the premises' operators apply for Boxing Day extension every year and there have been no major incidents of disorder in past years.

However the proposal is regarded as being 'outside board policy', so the board should hear what the licence holder says and then decide whether or not this case can be treated as an exception to policy.

The board's licensing policy statement reads: "The board has approved a list of events which are likely to be accepted as appropriate for a grant of extended hours.

"An event which is not on the list may still be allowed extended hours if the board is satisfied that it falls within the legislation."

Included on this list is special events of local or national significance, which does include Christmas/New Year period - which would typically mean this proposed extension would not have to be referred to the board.

However, within this policy it is stated: "Each year the board determines a policy for extended hours for the next Christmas/New Year period, and may decide to impose a 12.30am curfew, and may make special provision for certain days falling on weekends; the exact policy is agreed in October or November."

This suggests that the extended hours proposed by Pitchers falls out with the policy agreed in October/November.

Pitchers should know if their application has been granted by Monday, November 28.