And a fifth are now open beyond 1am. Some 100,000 have been granted Special Event Notices to remain open constantly for one-off periods of 48-hours.
Figures published yesterday also blew a hole in Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell's claim the Licensing Act would 'tilt the balance when it comes to deciding on the sale of alcohol in favour of residents and the police.'
Only 600 premises have been hauled before a licensing review for breaking the rules. And, of these, only one in six lost their right to sell drink. Most were told to simply carry on, with minor changes to their licences.
These included, for example, a bar in Brighton being banned from playing 'R'n'B' music after a spate of gang violence at themed music nights.
Medics warned the huge take-up of late drinking was creating a liver disease timebomb. Professor Ian Gilmore. president of the Royal College of Physicians, said: "The changes, particularly with supermarkets being at the front of the queue, can only have increased the availability of alcohol. "It is price and availability with drives alcohol-related health damage and deaths from cirrhosis are now likely to continue to escalate." He warned it will be five years before the full dire consequences of the change on the nation's health are known.
The London Ambulance Service reported a three per cent surge in alcohol-related call-outs. Between November 24, 2005 and October 31, 2006, it attended a staggering 38,940 incidents.
Brian Hayes, a paramedic in London, said the ambulance service had been turned into a "booze bus".
He added: "'In the West End, we fill up with between four and seven people and take them to hospital. Every weekend without fail we get ambulance crews assaulted, and nurses get assaulted in the hospital. Between 11pm and 2am, the majority of our cases are drink-related."
It costs £165 every time an ambulance is called out - which means since the new licensing laws came into effect the bill stands at £6.4 million. In figures published to mark today's first anniversary of the Licensing Act, the Department for Culture Media and Sport said 3,000 24-hour licences had been granted.
Of these, 600 are pubs, bars and clubs, 600 are off-licences and convenience stores and 750 are supermarkets. The remaining 24-hour licences have been granted to hotels and restaurants with public bars.
The big chains are all understood to have taken advantage of the relaxation. Sainsbury's said 180 stores had permission for round-clock opening, though not all do so. Tesco declined to give any figures.
Critics point out the Government has yet to publish any detailed research on the impact extended opening has had on violent crime, which police and judges predicted would explode. The only figures which have been released show a sharp increase in the number of arrests for alchol-related offences.
They were obtained from a report on the Government's twice-yearly Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign, under which police forces are given millions of pounds to put extra officers in the beat to tackle binge-drinking in the run-up to Christmas and in midsummer.
The number of alcohol-related arrests each day during this summer's month-long crackdown was 936, compared with 531 in November to December last year - just at the time late-night drinking laws were introduced - and 309 per day during a similar operation a year earlier.
The Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) last night sounded caution on the Government's claim the new laws were having a positive impact, saying it was too early to assess the true impact of the changes.
Acpo licensing spokesman Commander Chris Allison said the situation would have to be monitored over a longer period.
"The police service will continue to work closely with local authorities and the trade to deal with the negative effects of a culture of excessive drinking that still exists in our society."
Don Foster, Liberal Democrat spokesman, said the huge increase in 24-hour licences should come as no surprise.
"It was obvious that if we provided people with a chance to sell even more alcohol, they were going to take it."
He added that fragile public confidence in the Licensing laws risked being destroyed altogether by the revelation only one in six licence reviews ends in a premises being closed.
Mr Foster said: "The public do not want to see breaches of the licensing rules being treated as if they are an irrelevance."
Shadow Culture Secretary Hugo Swire said: "The Government promised that the changes would make life safer and quieter for local residents. Yet many local residents are powerless to object to noisy or rowdy venues.
"We are also hearing lots about 'anecdotal evidence', but the only hard figures we have showed an increase in the level of disorder. We need to know exactly what is happening on the streets nationwide."
Earlier this week, the Daily Mail revealed how four pensioners who tried to block a rowdy local pub from opening until 1am faced losing their homes after being pursued by the brewery for £29,000 costs.
If the two couples lose the High Court test case, residents across the country are likely to be afraid to ever again challenge a brewery's application for extended hours.
Licensing Minister Shaun Woodward said the 24-hour licences that were granted represented fewer than 200,000 of the premises in England and Wales, which are allowed to sell alcohol.
Many businesses which now have the right to serve alcohol round the clock only do so on special occasions, he added. |
