Vince Cable

After a prolonged battle with the council and local residents, and appeals to the government planning inspector, the owners of William Ellis in Twickenham (formerly the Twickenham Post Office) have won permission for longer opening hours and to open at the rear as well as the front of the building.

Vince Cable MP strongly opposed the new licensing laws which have opened the way to late night extensions, and is now raising with ministers the anomaly whereby licensees can exploit whichever is weakest, the planning or licensing constraints. "Vince Cable said: "this particular establishment is the main centre for binge drinking in Twickenham. When I drive through Twickenham on a late weekend evening there is often a posse of police outside waiting for trouble. Yet the owners seem to have the planning and licensing law on their side.

"I have a great deal of sympathy for the local pubs which are struggling to survive. But this is industrial scale drinking."