Get a new licence or face closure

Thousands of London pubs and clubs risk being closed unless they apply quickly for new licences, the Government has warned.

They have less than two weeks to respond to an overhaul of the licensing laws.

If they fail to meet the 6 August deadline, they risk having their applications challenged by aggrieved residents or being held up in a lastminute deluge of forms.

Anyone without a licence after 24 November faces closure and up to six months' jail or a fine of up to £20,000.

Fewer than one in three of the 30,434 licensed premises in London's 33 boroughs has re-applied.

Many landlords appear unaware that a new type of licence is needed even if they have no plans to extend hours.

The regime is meant to remove the traditional 11pm closing time, permit 24-hour drinking and give residents a greater say in tackling drunken and anti-social behaviour by switching licensing powers from magistrates to councils. It also ends the need to renew permits annually, saving licencees an estimated £2billion over 10 years.

According to the Department for Culture, 42 per cent of licencees across the country have applied, but only 29 per cent in London. Response rates range from 51 per cent in Bexley to 12 per cent in Barking & Dagenham. In Westminster, which is responsible for most West End venues, 26 per cent have applied.

Pubs, clubs, entertainment venues and takeaways that serve food after 11pm must all apply.

Licensing minister James Purnell said applications had been " disappointingly low". He said extending the deadline was not an option and added: "We are trying to get away from the situation where people were necking two or three pints or being thrown out at 11pm and fighting for cabs or each other."

Westminster council says up to 45 per cent of its 3,600 premises may be without a licence. Cabinet member Audrey Lewis said the Government needed a contingency. She said: "Does [it] really want to be responsible for pubs, clubs and restaurants... serving without a licence or having to close?"