Sugar Reef may lose late licence

London's biggest restaurant could lose its right to open late at weekends as part of licensing chiefs' new drive to force earlier closing times across the West End.

The Sugar Reef in Piccadilly - a combined 1,000-seater restaurant and nightclub - is facing a court action by Westminster council to restrict its recently granted 3am licence to 1am or earlier.

The restaurant won the right to open until 3am last month after a magistrates court overruled the objections of councillors on Westminster's own licensing committee.

Westminster's lawyers now plan to appeal against the magistrates' decision at the Crown Court.

The council, which believes an excess of late night licences has fuelled a yobbish "Ibiza" culture in the West End, will argue that the restaurant lies in a "stress zone" where no new licences should be granted beyond 1am.

The move has been criticised by the restaurant's owner, Chorion, which owns a number of West End bars and is a prominent opponent of Westminster's new policy.