Penwortham bar tables appeal for equality with neighbours

The owners of GinJarAle in Liverpool Road are expected to be told drinkers can now sit outside their premises until 8pm, just like two bars just yards away on the town’s main street.

For the last 12 months customers have suffered a 6pm outdoor curfew, while those at the neighbouring premises have been able to use pavement tables for two hours longer due to a puzzling planning anomaly.

But council officers will urge the South Ribble planning committee to finally bring the bars into line, meaning GinJarAle will not now have to clear away its furniture while 1260 Craft and Crust and No 16 On The Hill continue to serve outdoors.

A report to the committee admits there has been “disparity” between the bars dating back to a meeting in October 2019 when GinJarAle and 1260 both applied for permission to open.

GinJarAle was given planning permission with 6pm restrictions on the use of its outside space. But later rivals 1260 were allowed two hours more..

The owners of GinJarAle say that since the Covid lockdown the capacity inside their bar has been reduced by two-thirds and so, despite winter approaching, they need to use the outdoor area for longer.

All three neighbouring bars have sprung up within yards of each other on the same short stretch of Liverpool Road since the new Penwortham Bypass opened late last year.

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