'Chichester's nightlife benefits from our opening hours' says Vestry

After submitting the planning application, bar manager Charlie Rose said the pub is 'just patiently waiting for a response'. Charlie added that the site has already got the licence to be serving alcohol to 2.30am, now it just needs the planning permission from Chichester District Council.

Designated premises supervisor Nick Marshall said: "It's important to give people choice and it's important to keep people in the city whether they come here for university, whether they grew up here, to give them a good experience so that they will be coming back rather than relying on the population that's already here.

"South Street, as well as all the other pubs, is seeing an uplift from their being a late night venue. It affects everyone for the entire evening, from people coming out after work to people eating. It's not just us that's benefiting."

Approval of the application (19/00277/FUL) would see an extension on the pub's opening hours to 2.30am. A planning restriction on the building says The Vestry should close at 12am.

"We obviously want to operate legally and we've fully cooperated with the council who we've said numerous times before have been perfectly reasonable back to us and to be honest we are glad now the application is in. We hope it goes through smoothly and if it doesn't, we will continue to answer any queries they have and act as best we can.

"I think even in a recent survey, Chichester came zero for late night, we have a massive student population here, compared to other cities around here that we are comparable to Chichester, as a whole, Chichester has been slow to react to the changes in town centres that are happening elsewhere and what's great to see is now, through Chichester BID, through the council, through various councillors, we are beginning to see a change in attitudes that young people do have a lot to offer for the city and I say young people. I'm not just talking about students," said Nick.