Draft Project forced to shut as licence decision goes to public hearing

The fate of an under-fire Aberdeen pub will be decided at a public hearing.

Members of the city council’s licensing board met to discuss granting a new occasional licence to the Draft Project on Langstane Place, which was heavily criticised after videos emerged of customers shouting and hugging during Scotland’s Euro 2020 playoff victory over Serbia.

The footage, which showed jubilant fans appearing to disregard Covid-19 regulations, was widely condemned in the wake of the incident, and the Draft Project was ordered to remove its televisions as a result.

Police also visited and removed several people from the premises during the dramatic penalty shoot-out victory.

Now it will be prevented from opening until a public hearing has been held into whether to grant it a fresh licence – allowing objectors the chance to have their say on the application.

A city council spokesman said: “A sub-committee of the Licensing Board met and having considered the written submissions, determined that a full Licensing Board hearing was appropriate. No date for this has yet been fixed, but will be as soon as practicable.”

PB Devco have been contacted for comment.