Illustration by John Sadler www.johnsadlerillustration.com

• OF course it’s a longstanding conflict for planners and licensing bodies – balancing the interests of struggling businesses with those residents who live alongside them. But we’ve got to bear in mind that the night-time economy is like a staple industry in our borough.

In the old days our communities would have polluting and noisy factories in their midst. And that was the accepted nature of area.

Modern planning has tended to separate industry from residential so factories etc are on industrial estates, far from the homes where we want to relax.

I would say the balance of interests in our borough has now tipped in favour of night industry, and simply handing out more alcohol licences is going to eventually drive out the residents.

Our centres would be rowdy late-night theme parks which become ghost towns once the sun comes up. Great for the young, maybe. But not for most of us!

R BLACK, NW1