A POPULAR pub chain venue has applied to extend its opening hours by one hour with bosses saying it's due to customer demand and requests. 

The Blue Boar, High Street, Billericay is hoping to extend its closing time to 12.30am, seven days a week. Currently the business closes at 11.30pm Mondays to Saturdays and 11pm on Sundays. 

The business is seeking to change a condition which was placed on the original planning permission for the business regarding the opening hours.

Bosses at the business, run by pub chain Wetherspoon, say the plans come after "customer requests for later opening hours" and are in response to "strong customer demand." 

The plans state the business will bring in a number of measures to help stop any impact of the later closing times on community and homes. These include: signage at all exits to the premises to remind customers of the need to respect the rights of our neighbours to the quiet enjoyment of their homes, businesses and other activities.

The proposals also say that, the premises management will ensure that staff are 'made aware of the need to respect the rights of neighbours' to the quiet enjoyment of their homes, businesses and other activities and staff will be advised to keep their noise levels to a minimum when they are leaving the premises at the beginning and end of trading hours. The bosses also say that the contact details of the managers for the public house will be made available to residential properties adjacent to the site as part of the proposals

A planning statement and management plan states: "The Blue Boar Free House is a well-established and popular public house, operating for over 24 years, and this application is a response by J D Wetherspoon to its customer requests for later opening hours.  

"The application is in response to strong customer demand and as such it is asserted that a need for the proposal exists. In this instance the existing premises licence allows for opening hours in excess subject to this planning application, the licensing officer has been consulted in advance of this submission in any event and has confirmed their support. 

"It should be noted that Wetherspoon would be willing to accept an extension of the operating hours on site for a temporary period if this was considered prudent by officers in order to allow the effect of the proposal to be assessed over a 12 month period."