Edinburgh pubs allowed to open late for World Cup games

Edinburgh pubs and other venues will be allowed to stay open until early morning to host World Cup matches, following a decision by the city’s licensing board.

The general hours extension covers all World Cup games, not just Scotland games, and includes permission for a venue to stay open until 30 minutes after a match ends

This means some matches which have a 5am kick-off UK time could see venues stay open past 7am.

Venues will be expected to notify the council about their intention to stay open late through a not-yet-established process.

The board’s convener also stressed that it would monitor conditions throughout the event and reserves the right to amend the extension.

Venus will need to serve alcohol and have the showing of live TV included in their operating plan in order to take advantage of the extension.