Gangsters will be running Wimbledon pubs and bars that open long into the night unless the council gets a grip on licensing, a Merton councillor has warned.

According to Trinity ward councillor, David Dean, pubs are doing little more than “slapping one A4 sheet of paper in their toilets” to inform residents of an application to extend opening hours.

The council is also failing to do enough to engage with the community, allowing several bars to slip below the radar as they apply to serve alcohol until the early hours, he warned.

Coun Dean said: “The police and Merton’s environmental health department are only being asked to make representations when residents complain.”

He added: “Before the licensing laws changed in 2006, the onus was on individuals to prove they were capable of running a pub.

“Now the council and police have to prove that you can’t - that’s why you’ve had gangsters running certain pubs.”

Residents living around the Broadway have been complaining about an increase in drunk and violent behaviour since late-night drinking laws were introduced in 2005.

The Marquis of Lorne pub in Haydons Road was stormed by more than 100 officers in riot gear last year and shut down after a series of problems with underage drinkers and antisocial behaviour.

Leigh Terrafranca, from East Hillside Residents’ Association, said by allowing so many bars to open late the council was “degrading” the area.

She said a transient population living around the Broadway often did not object to the licensing applications, meaning applications could slip through.

She added: “Only someone living within a few hundred metres of a premises is allowed to object, but the antisocial behaviour stemming from late night drinking affects a far wider area.”

Merton Council deputy leader Councillor Samantha George said the council made every effort to alert as many people as possible about license changes. But she said the council had to work within the tight licensing regulations which give local councillors no real powers to reject applications.

All applications for extended hours must be advertised in the local press and on a notice displayed at the premises for a period of 28 days. Licensees also need to comply with the relevant regulations, she said.

People wanting to know more about current applications should email licensing@merton.gov.uk.

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