But support for 2am drinks bid

BROADCASTER Joan Bakewell fears that a late booze licence at a pub near her Primrose Hill home will lead to chaos.
She has warned that late opening at the Princess of Wales pub in Chalcot Road is inviting trouble from gangs, which she says are already operating in the leafy neighbourhood.
The pub’s licence is at the centre of a tug-of-war between letter-writing residents who say an extension to opening hours would be catastrophic and regulars who maintain the pub should be allowed to trade until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Supporters insist the pub’s familiar, silver-haired clientele should be distinguished from younger boozers.
A panel of three councillors is expected to make a decision on the application on Monday.
Ms Bakewell, 70, who has lived in nearby Chalcot Square for four decades, is just one objector who has written to Camden Council opposing the licence extension.
She said: “Residents have been alerted to gangs operating in this area and we are collaborating to see they don’t thrive here. Such community action is very valuable in the fight to limit crime.
“I believe to allow a late-night venue with music and dancing would conspicuously invite those with criminal intent to exploit the area, the visitors to it and the residents. We are doing our best to fight crime. Please don’t make it harder than it already is.”
Pub landlady Jane Symonds wants to keep the bar open until 2am at weekends and 12.30am in midweek.
Her application is one of the first in Camden to be considered under the government’s new licensing regime, which was introduced earlier this year and saw fixed opening hours scrapped.
In a concerted letter-writing campaign, neighbours have insisted that the change would lead to late-night disorder and sleepless nights.
The application has revealed divisions among neighbours, with some residents writing to the Town Hall to back Ms Symonds’ bid.
Next-door neighbour Simon Bennett said: “Jane Symonds has at all times shown the utmost consideration to her neighbours. I have no hesitation in supporting her application.”
David Townsend, of Fitzroy Road, added: “It is clear to anyone who visits the Princess that it a well-run pub. The clientele are generally older than those found in the other pubs in the area.”
Conservative councillor Johnny Bucknell said: “The pub has been successful because it has developed a niche clientele. The regulars are actually very civic-minded citizens, the sort of people who prevent disorder rather than creating it.”
The hearing comes a week after the New Journal revealed broadcaster Jon Snow was part of a campaign to stop the Torriano pub in Torriano Avenue staying open late at weekends.