Evening Press Leader

The advent of affordable foreign holidays almost ruined many British seaside towns. They still struggle to attract enough paying, staying visitors.

Seaside traders can do nothing to alter the biggest factor that works against them: the British weather. But they can try to clear away other obstacles to profitability. That is why Scarborough, Whitby, Malton and Norton licensees have joined together to apply for an extra hour's drinking at weekends.

While these towns cannot hope to match the Continent's sunshine hours, they can emulate the Continental night-out. The holidaymaker abroad can enjoy a leisurely late meal before relaxing with a drink into the small hours. The holidaymaker in England must sup up by 11.20pm.

Our foreign guests are understandably bemused by this behaviour. We invite them over to sample our legendary hospitality then end their night out with unseemly abruptness.

Moves are afoot for a long overdue overhaul of Britain's licensing laws. But these reforms will come too late for this summer season. That is why coastal and Ryedale landlords are appealing for an extra hour's drinking on Friday and Saturday nights during the summer.

We hope the application is successful. Allowing holidaymakers to drink until midnight at weekends is hardly revolutionary, but it would be a vital boost for the tourist trade that underpins the East Coast economy. And for many pubs, that extra hour could mean the difference between survival and closure.

The idea is bound to attract criticism from residents. But it should be possible to exclude pubs in purely residential areas from the extension. Those who choose to live on the seafront or in the town centre must expect a certain amount of night-time noise.

Fears of increased disorder are unfounded. As both all-day pub opening and Millennium Eve round-the-clock trading proved, relaxing the licensing laws simply makes for a more relaxing night out.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.