Cheers!

Councillors agreed to let the Fox in Henfield Road to stay open until 12.30am on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and until 2.30am on Friday and Saturday.

The pub can also stay open until 12.30am on Sunday, and all these times include 30 minutes wind down time.

The applicants withdrew their application for an extra hour opening on bank holiday weekends, but Horsham council did agreed to let them serve for an extra hour on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

The council received six letters about the application, including one from Upper Beeding Parish Council, who were concerned about noise and anti-social behaviour.

The police and the fire brigade had no objections to the application.

Under the new licence all children have to be accompanied by adults, and they have to leave the pub by 10pm.

The deadline for new licenses is Saturday, August 6, but Horsham District Council have so far received only a small number of applications from businesses and people in the area.

The council were expecting 500 applications from across the district, but by mid July they had received just 50.

The chairman of the licensing committee, councillor Bernard Baldwin, said: "We are now coming up to a vital deadline which is crucially important to all people working in the drinks, late night refreshments and entertainments trades and especially those who own premises where alcohol is sold.

"If you are simply wishing to convert an existing licence to the new format, then it will be relatively straight forward.

"However, it remains essential that a new application is made as soon as possible before August 6."