OWNERS of a pub forced to close at midnight when a neighbouring pub can trade until 1.30am are taking a fight against Bradford Council to the Government.

The Council has rejected a planning application from owners of The Hop, until recently called The Old Tramshed, in Saltaire to open until 1.30am.

That would have put it in the same position as the nearby Rosse pub, but councillors rejected the application on the advice of officers who said there was "a long and unresolved history of noise nuisance and other antisocial behaviour problems associated with the relatively late opening hours of these premises" and "allowing the premises to remain open for even longer into the night will simply exacerbate these ongoing disturbances and further erode the residential amenity of nearby homes."

The planning application to extend opening hours was made as the pub's owners, Ossett Brewery, had made a "significant investment" in the premises.

Licensing representatives at the Council have agreed that the pub should be allowed to stay open later, but that will not be allowed without planning consent as well.

Andrew Keeling, who represents Ossett Brewery, confirmed the case would now be heard by an independent planning inspector as a result of the Council ruling.

He said there was little evidence of the problems highlighted by the council as reasons to reject the application.

"I did a Freedom of Information request for details of complaints about what happened at The Hop and there were some, historically, but it related to something which happened inside. It related to a previous owner," he said.

Ossett Brewery argues that controls available to the authorities through licensing and planning rules would allow the Council to impose enough controls to allow later opening without causing problems.

Bradford Council received eight objections before making the decision to refuse planning consent, including two from councillors.

Objectors said a "previous late licence held on these business premises caused a nightmare around here, with anti-social behaviour and noise."

"Millions of pounds has been spent making the area into a nice pleasant place it will all be ruined by drunken acts of vandalism, fighting and anti-social behaviour."

Kay Hayes, landlady at the nearby Rosse pub, said she believed objections were due to The Hop being closer to a residential area.

"If they opened at the same time as us, then everyone would be kicking out at the same time so it could cause more disturbance."