POLICE and councillors are bracing themselves for a spate of late licence applications in Guisborough.

Under new laws, pubs and other licensed premises can apply to open at different times of the day, and those in Guisborough, particularly in the Westgate area, are expected to seek late licenses.

Although Redcar and Cleveland Council has not had any applications yet, officers are expecting licensees to come forward in the next few months.

Sgt Shaun Quinn, newly-appointed licensing sergeant for Langbaurgh, said landlords had expressed interest in extending their opening hours, but were waiting to see what others did.

He said: "We had expected to see some applications by now, but the trade seems in a bit of a state as to what to do next. A lot of the outlying pubs think a 19-page application is a little bit too much for them.

"I think the majority of pubs who do want to open later will be looking for an extra hour or two. But a lot of the licensees in Westgate are looking at 2am closing."

Sgt Quinn warned that a late flurry of applications before the August deadline could lead to problems.

He said: "The local authority wants applications in by August 6, to give them time to process them by the Government's November deadline.

"Potentially, we could have up to 600 applications in this area, and if they all come in late, there is going to be a bottleneck.

"Pubs could face not being able to trade if their licence is not processed in time."

Sgt Quinn spoke to Guisborough Town Council at its meeting on February 17, during which Sgt Colin Askey, of Cleveland police, presented statistics on alcohol-related crime in the Westgate area of the town.

There were 160 incidents of disorder last year, most of which were attributed to people who had been drinking.

Although no comparison figures were available for the previous year, he said there was a general upward trend.