Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Arbroath: DeVito’s bid for longer opening hours hits snag amid ‘sex shop’ confusion

A decision on an application to extend weekend licensing hours at De Vito’s nightclub in Arbroath was deferred by Angus Council.
A decision on an application to extend weekend licensing hours at De Vito’s nightclub in Arbroath was deferred by Angus Council.

A bid by Arbroath’s Devito’s nightclub to extend its weekend opening hours hit a snag after a police sergeant mistakenly quoted laws on sex shops.

The confusion at Angus Council’s licensing board was flagged by solicitor, Janet Hood, representing the venue’s owner.

She pointed out that Sergeant James Gordon quoted from a law on sex shop applications when submitting a late objection to the club’s licence extension request.

Sergeant Gordon admitted his mistake and apologised.

DeVito’s nightclub late opening

DeVito’s had applied to stay open an extra hour on Fridays and Saturdays, until 3.30am.

After the issue was resolved, the board still agreed to defer any decision on the licence until details of the objection could be considered by Ms Hood and her client.

‘The wrong legislation’

Speaking at the meeting, Ms Hood said: “I was caught somewhat off the back foot. And the legislation quoted by the police this morning is the wrong legislation!

“It’s Civic Government legislation not Licensing (Scotland) Act legislation, therefore the request to you (the board) is actually incompetent because they have used the wrong legislation.”

De Vito’s nightclub.

“And I think it’s actually quite important that this is noted.”

The licensing board had previously refused the extended hours application.

But DeVito’s appealed the ruling at Forfar Court and the board decided not to oppose the claim due to the expected expenses the council would incur.

The basis of the objection was not revealed at the latest meeting but it now means the venue must wait at least another month for a decision.

‘Sex shops not alcohol licensing’

Visibly annoyed, Ms Hood continued: “The legislation quoted, according to the police officer…actually relates to applications for sex shops rather than to licensing matters in terms of alcohol.

“I think it is incumbent on the police to make sure they try to get the law right, in general, throughout this entire matter.

Solicitor Janet Hood spoke on behalf of the owner of DeVito’s nightclub.

“My client’s been ready to move forward today; we’ve gone through a challenging appeal and I really fail to see why something else has to be put before you.

“However, if it is the board’s wish that you will accept this late decision, then we will just have to deal with it.”

The venue, located on the town’s Millgate Loan, was previously described by Ms Hood as, “the premier nightclub in Arbroath”.

Conversation