SALISBURY will have to wait until the end of this month to learn whether it is to get a landmark ruling that could see the district council flooded with applications from pubs and bars to extend their licences for music and dancing.
No pubs or bars in the city have yet been granted public entertainment licences beyond midnight - only nightclubs are allowed to party into the small hours.
This week, the manager of the Cathedral Hotel, in Milford Street, was at Salisbury Crown Court to appeal against the council's refusal to grant it an extension of its public entertainment licence from midnight to 1am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
If Michael Phillips's appeal is allowed when judgement is given at the end of this month, it could lead to other establishments applying for similar extensions.
However, Judge David Maclaren Webster QC insisted on Tuesday that, if the appeal were allowed, no precedent would be set and each case would continue to be judged on its merits.
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