Nightclub granted permission to stay open later on weekends

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter 

A nightclub has been granted permission to extend its opening hours, now closing its doors at as late as 5.30am on weekends.

Members of a Carmarthenshire council licensing sub-committee granted the licensing variation request by Adam Cole, licence holder of The Metropolitan, on the corner of Station Road and John Street.

Alcohol can be served and music played until 5am on Saturdays and Sundays, giving customers up to half an hour to leave before the venue closes. The new times also apply to the early hours of Mondays on bank holidays.

There was opposition from an action group which said the Station Road area was an anti-social behaviour hotspot and that extending the licensing hours would compound existing problems.

Mr Cole was present at a sub-committee meeting but he deferred to The Metropolitan’s designated premises supervisor Tracey Hanley to outline the variation application.

Ms Hanley said the operators had a track record of promoting a safe, well-managed venue and that extending the hours would align Llanelli with Carmarthen and Swansea in terms of offering customers an equivalent late-night hours option.

“Extending our hours would help us retain trade within Llanelli, support local employment and contribute positively to the town’s evening and night-time economy,” she said.

Ms Hanley said new CCTV had been installed in July 2025, that The Metropolitan had a zero-tolerance policy on drugs and anti-social behaviour and a strict policy challenging anyone who looked under the age of 21, and that customers who refused to be searched on entry were not allowed in. “We experience minimal to no incidents in our premises,” she said.

There have been 15 nights held under so-called temporary event notices when the venue had opened until 4am or 5am, she said, and that during these occasions only one incident had occurred. She didn’t say what this incident was but said it had happened at 00.20am.

Ms Hanley also said customers were encouraged to leave quietly and that door staff monitored their dispersal. “We can manage extended hours safely and responsibly,” she said.

Dyfed-Powys Police did not object to the licensing variation application subject to a number of conditions being met, which Ms Hanley said were already complied with.

The written submission from Glanymor and Tyisha Safer Communities Action Group said residents of Station Road and roads leading off it reported drunkenness, disturbance, people urinating in rear lanes, littering and evidence of drug use. Violence, it said, was not uncommon, and added: “We are aware of local residents who will not leave their homes during the hours of darkness.”

The group said it backed a public space protection order in place in parts of Llanelli town centre which sought to tackle drug and alcohol-related crime and anti-social behaviour. “From our experience, implementation and the recent extension of the order has made a difference but it is only effective if the police have the resources to have a high level of enforcement,” it said.

The group cited county council plans to regenerate Tyisha including Station Road and that it would keep pressing for them. No-one from the action group was at the meeting.

The sub-committee retired to consider the evidence and decided to granted the extended hours. It said doing so would not, on balance, undermine key licensing objectives. The minutes referring to the decision said councillors acknowledged “the heartfelt concerns of local people” as set out by the action group.