Pubs, bars and clubs are set to be allowed to stay open later to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee in June.
Ministers have launched a consultation on extended licensing hours for venues serving alcohol in England and Wales, from 11pm to 1am for three evenings between 2 and 4 June.
The late drinking will form part of a four-day bank holiday weekend, stretching from Thursday to Sunday, which has already been announced to mark the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne.
The commemorative weekend will include nationwide street parties, a service of thanksgiving, and a “platinum pageant” and concert, as well as the ceremony of Trooping the Colour.
Queen Elizabeth II came to the throne on 6 February 1952 on the death of her father George VI, though her coronation did not come until more than a year later on 2 June 1953. She became the longest-reigning monarch in UK history in 2015, and will be the first ever to reach her platinum jubilee.
UK news in pictures
Show all 50
UK news in pictures
25 December 2021
Patrick Corkery wears a santa hat and beard as waves crash over him at Forty Foot near Dublin during a Christmas Day dip
PA
UK news in pictures
24 December 2021
People stand inside Kings Cross Station on Christmas Eve in London
Reuters
UK news in pictures
23 December 2021
Christmas shoppers fill the car park at Fosse Shopping Park in Leicester
PA
UK news in pictures
22 December 2021
The sun rises behind the stones as people gather for the winter solstice at Stonehenge.
Getty
UK news in pictures
21 December 2021
People take part in a winter solstice swim at Portobello Beach in Edinburgh to mark the solstice and to witness the dawn after the longest night of the year
PA
UK news in pictures
20 December 2021
An auction employee displays poultry to buyers and sellers attending the Christmas Poultry Sale at York Auction Centre in Murton
PA
UK news in pictures
19 December 2021
Joao Moutinho of Wolverhampton Wanderers looks on during the Premier League match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chelsea at Molineux
Getty Images
UK news in pictures
18 December 2021
Freight lorries queuing at the port of Dover in Kent
PA
UK news in pictures
17 December 2021
Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP Helen Morgan, bursts ‘Boris’ bubble’ held by colleague Tim Farron, as she celebrates following her victory in the North Shropshire by-election
PA
UK news in pictures
16 December 2021
Brussels sprouts are harvested by workers as they prepare for the busy Christmas period near Boston in Lincolnshire
PA
UK news in pictures
15 December 2021
Lewis Hamilton is made a Knight Bachelor by the Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle
PA
UK news in pictures
14 December 2021
The Royal Liver Buildings surrounded by early morning fog in Liverpool
PA
UK news in pictures
13 December 2021
People queue outside a walk-in Covid-19 vaccination centre at St Thomas’s Hospital in Westminster
Getty Images
UK news in pictures
12 December 2021
People take part in the Big Leeds Santa Dash in Roundhay Park, Leeds
PA
UK news in pictures
11 December 2021
People arrive at a Covid-19 vaccination centre at Elland Road in Leeds,
PA
UK news in pictures
10 December 2021
Stella Moris speaks to the media after the US Government won its High Court bid to overturn a judge’s decision not to extradite WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
PA
UK news in pictures
9 December 2021
Camels are lead around Salisbury Cathedral during a rehearsal for the Christmas Eve Service
PA
UK news in pictures
8 December 2021
Margaret Keenan and Nurse May Parsons, a year after Margaret was the first person in the UK to receive the Pfizer vaccine
PA
UK news in pictures
7 December 2021
Snowfall in Leadhills, South Lanarkshire as Storm Barra hits the UK with disruptive winds, heavy rain and snow
PA
UK news in pictures
6 December 2021
A person tries to avoid sea spray on New Brighton promenade in Wallasey as the UK readies for the arrival of Storm Barra
Getty
UK news in pictures
5 December 2021
People release balloons during a tribute to six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes outside Emma Tustin’s former address in Solihull, West Midlands, where he was murdered by his stepmother
PA
UK news in pictures
4 December 2021
People walk through a Christmas market in Trafalgar Square
Reuters
UK news in pictures
3 December 2021
A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
2 December 2021
Duchess of Cambridge inspects a Faberge egg at the Victoria and Albert Museum
Getty
UK news in pictures
1 December 2021
Meerkats at London Zoo with an advent calendar
PA
UK news in pictures
30 November 2021
Workers put the finishing touches to the Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree ahead of the lighting ceremony later in the week
PA
UK news in pictures
29 November 2021
Home Secretary Priti Patel is greeted by a police dog at a special memorial service for Met Police Sergeant Matiu Ratana
Getty
UK news in pictures
28 November 2021
Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City battles for possession with Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United during a match at the Etihad during snow
Manchester City/Getty
UK news in pictures
27 November 2021
Residents clear branches from a fallen tree in Birkenhead, north west England as “Storm Arwen” triggered a rare “red weather” warning
AFP via Getty Images
UK news in pictures
3 December 2021
An aerial picture shows a worker using a quad bike and trailer to transport freshly harvested trees at Pimms Christmas Tree farm in Matfield, southeast England
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
26 November 2021
A shopper browses Christmas trees for sale at Pines and Needles in Dulwich, London
Reuters
UK news in pictures
25 November 2021
A murmuration of hundreds of thousands of starlings fly over a field at dusk in Cumbria, close to the Scottish border
PA
UK news in pictures
3 December 2021
A pedestrian carries a dog as they dodge shoppers on Oxford Street in central London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
24 November 2021
Migrants are helped ashore from a RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institution) lifeboat at a beach in Dungeness, on the south-east coast of England, on November 24, 2021, after being rescued while crossing the English Channel.
AFP via Getty Images
UK news in pictures
23 November 2021
The coffin of Sir David Amess is carried past politicians, including former Prime Ministers Sir John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May, Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson during the requiem mass for the MP at Westminster Cathedral, central London
PA
UK news in pictures
22 November 2021
The scene in Dragon Rise, Norton Fitzwarren, Somerset where police have launched a murder probe after two people were found dead
Tom Wren/SWNS
UK news in pictures
21 November 2021
London-based midwife Sarah Muggleton, 27, takes part in a ‘March with Midwives’ in central London to highlight the crisis in maternity services
PA
UK news in pictures
20 November 2021
Police officers monitor as climate change activists sit down and block traffic during a protest action in solidarity with activists from the Insulate Britain group who received prison terms for blocking roads, on Lambeth Bridge in central London
AFP via Getty Images
UK news in pictures
19 November 2021
A giant installation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson made from recycled clothing goes on display at Manchester Central, as part of Manchester Art Fair, in a ‘wake-up call for the Prime Minister to tackle textile waste’
PA
UK news in pictures
18 November 2021
The scene at a recycling centre in Stert, near Devizes in Wiltshire after a large blaze was brought under control. The fire broke out on Wednesday night the fire service has said and local residents were advised to keep windows and doors shut due to large amounts of smoke
PA
UK news in pictures
17 November 2021
The sun rises over South Shields Lighthouse, on the North East coast of England
PA
UK news in pictures
16 November 2021
ancer Maithili Vijayakumar at the launch of 2021 Diwali celebrations at St Andrew Square in Edinburgh
PA
UK news in pictures
15 November 2021
Forensic officers work outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital, following a car blast, in Liverpool
Reuters
UK news in pictures
14 November 2021
Wreaths by the Cenotaph after the Remembrance Sunday service in Whitehall, London
PA
UK news in pictures
13 November 2021
Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, is ending his hunger strike in central London after almost three weeks. Ratcliffe has spent 21 days camped outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London without food. He began his demonstration on 24 October after his wife lost her latest appeal in Iran, saying his family was “caught in a dispute between two states”
PA
UK news in pictures
12 November 2021
Peter Green protesting outside the Cop26 gates during the official final day of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow.
PA
UK news in pictures
11 November 2021
Seagulls fly around the statue entitled ‘Tommy’, a first World War soldier by artist Ray Lonsdale at dawn in Seaham, Britain
Reuters
UK news in pictures
10 November 2021
Climate activists dressed as characters inspired by the Netflix series “Squid Game” protest as they ask Samsung to go 100% renewable energy, outside the venue for COP26 in Glasgow
Reuters
UK news in pictures
9 November 2021
A deer statue silhouetted at Loch Faskally in Pitlochry, Scotland
Reuters
UK news in pictures
8 November 2021
Sunrise over St Mary’s Lighthouse at Whitley Bay on the North East coast of England
PA
Announcing the proposals for extending licensing hours, home secretary Priti Patel said: “Her Majesty the Queen is an example to us all – she has served the UK and the Commonwealth with the utmost dignity, steadfastness, and resolve throughout her remarkable reign.
“The platinum jubilee is a truly historic occasion, and it is right that the country should mark this celebration in a special way.
“This extension will enable families, friends and communities across England and Wales to raise a glass to toast Her Majesty the Queen and mark her incredible service to our country.”
Section 172 of the Licensing Act 2003 allows the home secretary to make a licensing hours order giving permission to premises to open for specified, extended hours to mark occasions of exceptional international, national or local significance.
Similar extensions have previously been put in place for the Queen’s 90th birthday in 2016, the diamond jubilee in 2012, and the weddings of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011 and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018, a well as for the FIFA football World Cup in 2014.
A month-long consultation will consider the views of the public on the plans, as well as those of key players like the police, licensing authorities and alcohol awareness groups.
Since 2005, pubs in England and Wales have been able to apply for licences permitting the sale of alcohol on a 24-hour basis, but in practice local councils tend to restrict opening times for individual premises, with most shutting their doors at 11pm.