§ MR. H. J. WILSON (Yorkshire, W.R., Holmfirth)To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he can explain why licensed refreshment houses in the city of Nottingham are allowed to be kept open till midnight; and, if there is no legal authority for the practice, can he take steps to ensure that the law regulating the hours of closing such houses is duly observed in that city.
(Answered by Mr. Secretary Gladstone.) I am informed that the refreshment houses to which the Question is understood to relate are not licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquors, and though they are required by an Act of 1864 to close at the same hour as premises so licensed, viz., 11 p.m., it has not been thought expedient in Nottingham to enforce this strictly. The opportunity of obtaining food or refreshments in them till midnight has been found convenient and quite compatible with public order. I am not charged with the administration of the Act of 1864. The Watch Committee of Nottingham are the police authority of that city, and any complaints about this matter may properly be addressed to them.