Met Police raise Wembley match day concerns over plans for new sports lounge

Football fans outside Wembley pub
-Credit:Getty Images


The police have raised concerns about plans to open a new sports lounge a few hundred yards away from Wembley Stadium. The lounge would comprise a sports bar and restaurant but would need to agree to a number of match day restrictions to quell their reservations, including no alcohol in the smoking area, only allowing in one set of supporters, and stop selling alcohol an hour before kick-off.

An application has been made for a new premises licence for Butlers Sports Lounge on Fulton Way in Wembley for up to 600 punters. Butlers Sports Lounge Ltd wants the venue to open seven days a week from 9:30am until 1am but, as with other bars in the area, it would face a number of restrictions to its operations on match-days if the licence were to be granted.

The Metropolitan Police is concerned that, if Brent Council granted the licence based on the current application, it would be ‘detrimental’ to public safety, crime and disorder, and public nuisance. However, PC Stephen Hicks noted that if the venue agrees to a series of conditions then the force would withdraw its opposition.

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Fulton Road, Wembley
If approved, the sports lounge will be located on Fulton Road - just a few hundred yards away from Wembley Stadium -Credit:Google Maps

The building that the premises would be in includes commercial units, a ground floor shop, and hotel - with nine balconies positioned directly above the venue. The venue is located just off Olympic Way, the main walkway between Wembley Park Underground Station and Wembley Stadium, so will have significant footfall on match days due to the large crowds travelling to and from the stadium.

Ahead of a decision on the application being made, the police are calling for a number of specific match-day conditions to be added, which would come into force four hours before the designated kick-off time and remain in place until the stadium has emptied.

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The match day restrictions include not serving drinks in glass containers; stop the sale of alcohol one hour before the game starts and not resume until 15 minutes after kick-off; only allowing access to one set of supporters - who also must have a valid ticket to the game; not showing televised football matches on the premises; and not allowing alcohol to be drunk in the smoking area, which would have to be supervised by security at all times.

Further requests have been made by the council’s licensing team for the conditions to also apply to any large-scale event taking place at the stadium, as the application only specifies ‘match days’. Issues around noise have also been raised by licensing and nuisance control officers, who feel it could disturb hotel guests and local residents.

Premises site on Fulton Road, Wembley
The building that the premises would be in includes commercial units, a ground floor shop, and hotel -Credit:Brent Council

In documents submitted against the application, the licensing representative said: “The proposed later terminal hours raise concerns about potential noise disturbances from patrons queuing, entering, or leaving the premises, especially as hotel rooms sit directly above. Alcohol consumption can increase conversational noise levels, and the current reliance on signage alone may be insufficient to mitigate against the potential issues, particularly given the later hours applied for.”

They added: “Furthermore, the provision of live and recorded music until 12:30am may result in noise breakout, particularly if the building’s sound insulation is inadequate and subsequently might disturb hotel guests and local residents.”

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The nuisance control officer has recommended a number of measures to mitigate against the noise, including banning music in any outside area; making sure every window remains closed at all times; and arranging the music level ‘so as not to cause a nuisance to local residents’.

The application will be reviewed by Brent Council’s Alcohol and Entertainment Licensing Sub-Committee at a meeting next month (February 4), where a decision will be made on whether to grant the licence.

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