IT was the beginning of the end for traditional "last orders" - but there was no rush of pubs and clubs looking to open 24 hours.

February 7 saw licensed premises entitled to apply for the round-the-clock licences which come into effect from November.

Officials at Bournemouth council are concerned that they could be the only ones working round the clock when the applications start coming in.

But the council, which will be responsible for the liquor licences at hundreds of clubs, pubs and hotels, had not a single application on its desks on the first day.

That might have been because some of the application forms were still not available from the government, according to Tony Ramsden, former chairman of the council's licensing board, who now speaks for licensing solicitor Horsey Lightly Fynn.

He was concerned the system might collapse if the council received a rush of applications late on. "If they didn't get any until the last minute, they just wouldn't be able to cope," he said.

Cllr Anson Westbrook, who chairs Bournemouth's licensing board, said: "It's still very early days with the new licensing laws and it has been a slow start with no applications received as yet.

"However we are not complacent and are prepared for the extra work that may build up in the coming months. We have no idea how we will be affected, but potentially councillors and officers may have to work round the clock to get through the applications and hearings.

"This is a worst case scenario - all we can say is we've prepared as much as we can, and have meeting rooms booked in preparation."

Horsey Lightly Fynn is representing around 1,000 organisations which need to apply for new licences under the government's reforms, including clients as diverse as Hall and Woodhouse and the National Trust. But Mr Ramsden said only around half those clients wanted to change the terms of their licences, and many of those were seeking to change the details of their licences rather than their opening hours.

The government has defended its licensing plans. Culture secretary Tessa Jowell said yesterday: "We are not, and never have, promoted 24-hour drinking. That is a myth. We are promoting flexible hours to reduce violence at last orders."

Taflan Dikec, Bournemouth-based president of the National Association of Kebab Shops, said: "We're happy with this law because the longer opening hours will be available to most of the take-away shops. We don't see pubs opening longer hours being any more of a problem than it is at the moment."

First published: February 8