Extended festive bar hours face last orders Party-pooper health bosses say long booze sessions are bad for health

Party-pooper health chiefs want plans to extend festive pub and club opening hours to be scrapped.

Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership (RHSC) maintains longer bar times will cause a surge in binge drinking.

It insists hospital visits will rocket as revellers celebrate Christmas and New Year.

Fiona MacKay, head of planning and health improvement for the body, urged proposals to be scrapped in a letter to the council’s licensing board.

She said: “Renfrewshire’s poor relationship with alcohol and the resulting health inequalities are well documented.

“Extending terminal hours will enhance access, visibility and promotion of alcohol which will influence drinking patterns and problems.

“This can have very serious consequences for health and wellbeing and the wider community.

“Binge drinking is associated with increased risk of injury as a result of accidents, increased risk taking behaviours and can have significant impact on health in the longer term.”

Renfrewshire Council’s licensing panel will vote on granting extra hours this afternoon.

It will decide whether pubs can stay open until 1am in the week before and after Christmas.

Time would be called at 2am on four Fridays and Saturdays during December.

And drinking hours would run until 3am on Christmas Eve and Hogmanay. Nightclubs will have their hours run until 3am between December 17 and January 2.

Extra opening times will see clubs open until 4am on Christmas Eve and Hogmanay.

This would be extended to four Fridays and Saturdays during the festive period if venues are members of the Paisley Town Centre Radio Link safety network.

Police have no objections to the proposals.

Alcohol Treatment Services in Renfrewshire received over 700 referrals in the last financial year.

Booze- related hospital stays in Renfrewshire are 42 per cent higher than the national average at 945 per 100,000 people.

Drink- linked deaths are 13 per cent higher than the Scottish average, at a rate of 24.7 per 100,000 people.

RHCS promotes awareness programmes throughout the year and is behind the safe bus, which provides space for those drunk and distressed during nights out.

It runs adult social care services and all community health services across the district on behalf of the NHS and council.

Ms MacKay says prolonged alcohol abuse can lead to fatal health conditions.

She added: “With a new licensing board and the eyes of the UK on Paisley’s bid to become the UK City of Culture in 2021, there is an opportunity for Renfrewshire Council to lead the way in promoting sensible drinking.

“Extending the licensing hours over the festive period is incongruent with the objectives of these initiatives.

“Recent guidance has been issued by the chief medical officer to reflect new evidence which shows increased health risks associated with alcohol with cancer in particular.

“The council can encourage people to drink only in moderation over the festive period by retaining current licensing terminal hours.”