THE latest bid to gain a late-night drinks licence for York Barbican Centre may be set for failure, objectors' lawyers have claimed.

They have argued that the centre's prospective new operators have failed to advertise their proposals properly - for the second time.

Solicitors acting on behalf of two local residents who oppose the licence said that notices posted outside the centre by Absolute Leisure failed to indicate how late they wanted the centre to stay open.

They also claimed there was confusion over the deadline for the submission of comments on the application, saying the council's licensing department was advising it was last Friday, while the notices stated it was today.

The solicitors, Poppleston Allen, have written to City of York Council to ask it to rule that the application had not been properly advertised, and to direct the company to start again with a proper notice.

But Absolute Leisure insisted today that it was not legally obliged to state the intended hours of opening, and that the notices were quite acceptable.

The council said its licensing team had only just received the letter and was investigating the issue.

Ernie Dickinson, of the Save Our Barbican campaign, said: "We await the council's decision with bated breath."

Referring to the alleged disparity over the deadline for comments, he said: "Either the council is wrong in what it is saying, or the notices are wrong. They can't both be right."

As reported recently in the Evening Press, Absolute Leisure has applied to the council for permission to keep the centre open seven days a week until 2.30am, and to sell drinks until 2am.

The company has previously mounted two separate attempts to get a late licence from York Magistrates, but both hearings - which had been set to hear protests from local residents worried about late-night noise and disturbance - were abandoned.

Last November, a three-day court hearing was halted because legal notices had not been posted properly. Last month, Absolute Leisure withdrew its application at the 11th hour because of uncertainty created by a possible judicial review of the council's decision to grant planning permission for the centre's redevelopment.

Poppleston Allen, acting on behalf of Maria Dodd and Edna Glowara, who both live opposite the centre in Barbican Road and are concerned about the impact of the late licence on their lives, said Local Authorities Coordinators of Regulatory Services (LACORS) advised that core hours of licensing activities should be shown in notices.

They said the proposed hours of opening were arguably one of the most important details that needed including in the notice.

They said that if their request could not be determined at officer level and had to go to committee, they would ask for an early hearing to determine it.

Updated: 10:25 Wednesday, June 01, 2005