Flippin’ brilliant: Dolphin Pub wins late licence court battle

The Dolphin Pub on Mare Street. Photograph: Ella Jessel

The Dolphin Pub on Mare Street has won its year-long battle to regain its late night licence after a court hearing in Stratford Magistrates.

Hackney Council changed the pub’s licence last year after police branded the 150-year establishment a “crime hotspot”.

But since the licence was amended, crime rates have seen significant improvements.

Commenting on the decision, Cllr Emma Plouviez, Chair of the council’s Licensing Committee, said: “Managers at The Dolphin have made some efforts to tackle the disproportionately high levels of theft at the pub.

“We will continue to work with them at to further reduce crime and the impact on local residents in the area.”

According to The Dolphin’s manager, Alfie Smith, the pub is now “running smoothly”. He said: “It was a huge amount of hard work, The whole place is covered in CCTV as the big complaints were to do with theft. Now we are trying everything that we possibly can to prevent this and we feel like there has been a huge decline.”

The Dolphin is now opening for food – burgers and Sunday roasts- but they insist this does not constitute an image change: “We want to carry on the fun vibe that people associate with the Dolphin but we have made a bit more effort to make the sit down experience more enjoyable. The tables have a bottle with a flower in it-  and a candle!”

The new opening hours, as ordered by the court are Sunday to Wednesday, 11am to 1.30am. Thursday, 11am to 2am and Friday to Saturday, 11am to 4am.