Thetford town council wants to extend the licensing hours of prominent civic buildings in the town that are used for public events.

Thetford town council wants to extend the licensing hours of prominent civic buildings in the town that are used for public events.

Thetford Town Council is applying to Breckland Council's licensing sub-committee for approval for consent to vary its existing licensing hours to cover a whole range of events, including plays, films, indoor sporting events, live music and the performance of dance at both the Guildhall and the Carnegie Rooms on Cage Lane in Thetford.

It wants to see the opening hours extended so that the buildings can be licensed from 8am through to 2am making them more flexible for a wide range of uses.

Town manager Susan Glossop stressed that it is not intended to serve alcohol during the whole of these hours but just to be more flexible for a variety of hirers of the buildings.

“The application is really to bring our current premises licence up-to-date,” she said.

The details of the application are contained within a report to the licensing sub-committee which is due to meet on April 21 at Attleborough Town Hall when they will consider the application and make a decision.

Part of the application involves removing all existing conditions and replacing them with a new set of conditions. It is this element that police have expressed concern about.

Licensing officer Tony Grover says that the police are keen to ensure that all the measures presented by the town council are proportionate to the events being staged there.

There are also concerns raised by Breckland Council's environmental health department relating to noise nuisance resulting from the late night opening hours and the effect on nearby residents.

Ms Glossop said agreement had now been reached with the environmental health officials and the town council had agreed to adhere conditions regarding noise levels.