A party experience and cocktail bar's premises licence was approved at an Oxford City Council meeting, despite objections from police.

The London Cocktail Club opened its first venue outside of London in 2018, Bristol, and since then they’ve been popping up across the country.

The new premises would be at the basement on 29-31 George Street in Oxford, and originally asked to serve alcohol between 11am and 2.30am from Monday to Thursday, 11am until 3am on Friday and Saturday and 11am until 2am on Sunday.

The company has also asked to have late night refreshments, and the performance of dance, live music and recorded music, until 3am on Monday to Thursday, until 3.30am on Friday to Saturday, and until 2.30am on Sunday.

Thames Valley Police made an objection to the licensing, over crime and disorder and public nuisance, but there were no other objections made in the timeframe.

The objection said: "TVP have concerns given this area already suffers greatly from crime, disorder, anti social behaviour (ASB) and nuisance resulting from the extensive licensed community."

This 'extensive licensed community' refers to the impact of having many licensed premises in the city centre.

Over the pandemic a 'special saturation policy' (SSP) that protected the city centre was not successfully carried out, police described the area as in 'limbo'. 

Police also felt that the conditions in the application didn't address all the 'common key challenges inherent to Oxford'.

The objection also made reference to the fact the venue is "geared to ‘volume alcohol consumption’", using evidence from the London Cocktail Club's website.

These included the slogan, 'the work do you won't remember', and 'drunk in love'. 

Police also referred to the reception of the London Cocktail Club premise that opened in Reading last year, with officers noting it was spoken to about 'flyposting' with a pink poster that said 'F#£K DRY JANUARY'.

To prevent crime and disorder, London Cocktail Club said that there will be CCTV systems recording the premises at each exit and entry point, and an incident log kept of any crimes reported at the venue.

The business also said that no noise will come from the premises and the area outside will be cleaned, and listed other measures in the application to avoid risks associated with their opening of a premise.

The council agreed to grant the license if the premises took on board police suggestions, which included stopping serving alcohol earlier and carrying out a search policy on people entering the premises. 

The premises has been previously occupied by Roppongi nightclub, JT’s Cocktail Bar, and Cirkus Bars Ltd.

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