Former Met chief warns police 'gearing up' for 5am World Cup pub extensions

A former senior Metropolitan Police officer has warned that forces across England face last-minute operational disruption after the government announced pubs can remain open until 5am for England’s next World Cup fixture, which kicks off at 1am on Monday.

Andy Trotter, a former deputy assistant commissioner at the Met, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the combination of alcohol, hot nights, and a major sporting event “can lead to trouble.” His central concern was not the extension itself, but the short notice given to police forces who must now reorganise shift patterns at short notice.

“My anxiety is with the late change — the police are now going to have to gear up across the country on a night normally when, into the early hours, it’d be a bit quieter than usual,” Trotter said. “Now they have to change shifts, get more officers out.”

He also flagged the practical hazard of large crowds spilling onto streets in the early hours. “There could well be issues as people come out at 4 or 5 in the morning, bumping into the morning bleary-eyed commuters,” he said.

Trotter’s warning follows similar criticism from Mark Roberts, chief constable of Cheshire Constabulary and the UK’s national football policing lead, who said the decision “could have been managed differently.” Roberts argued that existing licensing law already allows individual premises to apply for extensions, calling that the “sensible way to do it” — and adding that “just common sense tells you that is going to give us more problems.”

The government had previously confirmed in February that pubs would be permitted to stay open until 2am if any home nation reached the knockout stages. The latest extension to 5am marks the first time in a decade that relaxed licensing hours have applied to the round of 32 and round of 16.

The hospitality sector, however, is welcoming the move. Figures from the British Beer and Pub Association estimate that an England appearance in the World Cup final would generate an additional £275m in pub sales, with fans drinking 55 million more pints over the summer. Each individual World Cup match is estimated to add between £2.5m and £5m to the industry, with each pub selling roughly 1,240 extra pints in the build-up to games.