Councillors yesterday agreed to go to consultation on extending licensing hours for special events in the Highlands.
A provisional list of possible occasions to be considered was put forward during a Highland Licensing Board meeting yesterday.
These included Halloween and Easter, as well as events like the Mod, St Andrew’s Day, Burns Night and Loopallu Music Festival.
Sporting events mentioned include the mountain bike championships in Fort William and skiff racing in Ullapool.
The licensing board’s current policy statement identifies the festive period as an occasion to generally grant applications to extend hours to 4am at late opening premises and 2am at other on-sales premises.
But recent applications for extended hours at Halloween were refused because the hours were outwith the core hours identified in the policy statement.
The new proposals will go to public and statutory consultation before a decision is reached on introducing a supplementary policy statement.
Highland councillors put extended licensing hours to consultation
