A PUB'S request to stay open until 3am has been rejected amid fears the move would increase anti-social behaviour.

The Fleece Hotel, in Victoria Road, Richmond, applied to open until 3am on Fridays and Saturdays and 2am on Thursdays.

But district councillors said at a meeting yesterday that 3am was too late.

Instead, the pub will be allowed to open until 1.30am on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Music will have to stop at 1am.

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

Police said the extended opening hours would 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.

"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."