POLICE and residents have expressed concern about an application by a town centre pub to open until 3am.

The Fleece Hotel, in Victoria Road, Richmond, wants to open until 3am on Friday and Saturday, 2am on Thursday, 12.30am on Sunday and until midnight on Monday to Wednesday.

At present, the pub is open until 1am from Thursday to Saturday, to 12.30am on Sunday and to 11pm on all other days.

The application to change the pub's existing opening hours has been submitted to Richmondshire District Council and will be discussed at a meeting on Thursday, August 25.

Objections have been raised by Richmond police, the nearby Georgian Theatre Royal and several residents living near the pub.

Police say the extended opening hours could lead to an increase in alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour in the early hours.

In a letter to the district council, Georgian Theatre Royal manager Vaughn Curtis said: "We already suffer from a large amount of noise spill in our auditorium from revellers leaving and arriving at the Fleece, but have learnt to cope with this to some extent.

"The increase in hours would mean direct problems with the running of our core business."

Mr Curtis added: "I would also be concerned for residents who, like us, would have to put up with a marked increase in vandalism and the effects of too much drink in the early hours of the morning."

* Councillors will allow another pub to stay open later, but not as late as requested.

The Bolton Arms, in Leyburn, wanted to open until midnight from Monday to Thursday and Sunday, and until 1am on Friday and Saturday.

But members of the district council's licensing sub-committee voted yesterday to allow it to stay open only until 12.30am on Friday and Saturday, and until 11.30am on all other days.

The decision was taken after objections from local residents and businesses about possible noise and disturbance.