THE CLOCK can now strike 12 at a Dorchester town centre bar after a long running wrangle was finally resolved.

Durnovaria Wine Bar in South Street was forced to shut its doors before midnight on New Year's Eve last year as it was unable to obtain a temporary licence.

Owner Jim Ross was forced to call time at 11pm last New Year’s Eve and Christmas Eve because he was told he could no longer use temporary event notices to open later as he had done previously.

He did submit the planning application to change the opening times back in October but was told two days before Christmas that because of representations made during the consultation process the application would not be decided in time for New Year’s Eve.

He was told that he would be in breach of his licence if he did open past 11pm so was forced to shut an hour before midnight on what were traditionally two of the busiest nights of the year.

In light of the situation Durnovaria hosted a French themed New Year’s Eve party with the venue on French time so they celebrated the ringing in of the new year an hour earlier.

West Dorset District Council's development control committee has now approved an application to vary the opening times so Durnovaria can stay open until midnight every night and 12.30pm on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

Mr Ross told the committee that he was not looking to open after midnight regularly during the week but the variation would enable him to open later on special occasions and at weekends.

The committee was told that there had been objections raised by residents of the flats above but planning officer David Hodges that consideration had to be balanced with the fact that it was a licensed premises in a town centre location.

After the meeting Mr Ross said he was delighted that the situation had finally been resolved.

He said: "The situation had arisen because the temporary event notices were taken away, they were completely removed from me.

"If you are trying to run a business like this it makes it extremely difficult."

Mr Ross said that the extra hour was good news and would be welcomed by his customers, who were mainly professionals over the age of 25.

He said: "We are not a late night party venue but a lot of people are always saying 'why can't you stay open till midnight?"

Cllr Stella Jones was among the committee members to support the application.

She said: "I think it's an important place for Dorchester because we have got Brewery Square where lots of people go in the evening and that's taking away from the old part of town.

"This helps to bridge the gap."