Bar crawl venue awaits new licensing decision

A bar on the route of one of the country's largest pub crawls is awaiting a decision on a new licence which would allow it to admit more customers.

The owners of Taylor's Sports Bar & Grill in Leeds want to replace their existing licence with one allowing them to serve alcohol on the first floor - meaning they could serve more people, including those participating in the Otley Run crawl.

The application received objections from residents, councillors and police, while rugby league club Leeds Rhinos were among those to offer support.

Leeds City Council's licensing sub-committee said Taylor's would receive a written decision on its application in five working days after a meeting earlier.

The Otley Run is a 19-stop pub crawl which has been a part of student life in Leeds for decades, but has grown to see about 4,000 people take part on many Saturdays.

Some people feel the event is out of control and have called for steps to limit its growth.

West Yorkshire Police claimed staff at Taylor's directed people who were "in an intoxicated state" to cross the "busy" road to visit the venue.

In a letter to the licensing committee, a police spokesperson said "unmanageable crowds" had gathered outside the bar, "causing a nuisance to local residents and their families, contributing to making the central area of Headingley feel unsafe and unusable".

The council's Environmental Health Services team said the venue had not provided enough information about how they intended to prevent public nuisance.

Taylor's has previously attracted complaints about noise and crowds, according to a council report.

The bar, opened in 2023 replacing a café, has used temporary event notices, known as TENs, to utilise the upstairs space.

According to several letters submitted in support of the application, the upstairs area - known as the Local Heroes Lounge - had been used for various functions.

In a letter of support, a spokesperson for Headingley-based Leeds Rhinos said the bar was used by players from its rugby league and netball teams and had become "an ideal [place] to socialise and engage with other sports fans who live locally".

The meeting heard the council received 48 objections, including one signed by ward councillors and MP Alex Sobel, and seven letters of support.

Barrister Ben Williams, representing Taylor's, told councillors: "There is a strong, visceral reaction to premises seeking to do anything on the Otley Run.

"There is little by way of incident associated with this premises."

Martin Cook, reading a statement on behalf of objectors, said Otley Run participants often turned up drunk to start the crawl.

He said: "The atmosphere can be hostile and intimidating as the hordes move down Otley Road."

A list of conditions to prevent nuisance and disorder at the bar included CCTV, an incident register and no outside loudspeakers.

Mr Williams, summing up for Taylor's, disputed claims granting the licence would add to pub crawl disorder.

He said: "All of these things, I'm afraid, are symptomatic of that blind hatred of the Otley Run."

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