An East London Irish pub’s bid to allow more drinking and smoking outside the pub at night has brewed anxiety among locals, who claim patrons packing the pavement have left elderly residents feeling “intimidated.”
Howl At The Moon in Hoxton applied applied to remove seven conditions on its licence, including caps on numbers outside, a requirement that outdoor drinkers be seated, and a random search policy.
In their place, it proposed a limit of 30 people outside after 10pm, once its pavement furniture is cleared away.
At a licensing committee hearing on Wednesday 21 October, pub manager Connor Clark said the change would fix the current “archaic” licence and “tighten up” the business’s operation.
One existing rule requires the pub to search two out of every 15 customers, including smokers coming back inside, and the proposals include scrapping this policy outright.
Clark said the mooted changes would make it easier for the business to stick to licensing conditions active from 8pm, when Hoxton Market closes and a rule curbing outdoor smoking to seven customers at a time comes into force.
He claimed the current situation was “tough” because it was difficult to suddenly limit the number of people. The changes, Clark said, would make the transition smoother and keep patrons within licensed boundaries.
During the meeting, he offered to limit the number of smokers outside to 20, rather than 30, after 10pm. The manager clarified that all outdoor drinking ends completely by then, though this is not part of the proposed conditions.
“To go from this great community space where people want to watch the football to getting seven people in a pen is what we really need to work on,” Clark said.
None of the statutory authorities, such as the Metropolitan Police, objected to the application.
A written comment from licensing officer David Tuitt says the applicant wants to “align” conditions with the shopfront trading licence. He cites Home Office guidance that licence conditions shouldn’t duplicate other regulation, and says removing or amending some conditions “could be beneficial”. He flags residents’ likely concerns and suggests mediation.
Officers also recommended extra conditions: two Security Industry Authority-certified door supervisors on weekends when open past midnight, and a risk assessment of the smoking area.
The venue’s premises licence at present allows up to 20 people outside before 8pm, which becomes a limit of seven smokers at a time outside its side door on Stanway Street after that.
Howl At The Moon is also allowed to place four benches on the pavement outside, seating a maximum of 15 people. However, Clark and Tuitt suggested varying the premises licence because of a conflict.
The licence forces the pub to bring the benches inside at 8pm, but bringing it into line with the Shop Front Trading Licence issued by the Markets Service would mean the furniture can technically remain until 10pm.
‘Wheelchair users forced into the road’
Two groups of locals, however, pushed back, with both representations were forwarded by Cllr Adams on 14 September.
One was on behalf of the Hoxton Action Group, the other on behalf of the Hoxton East and Shoreditch Ward Panel, which is part of the Met Safer Neighbourhoods scheme.
On behalf of residents on the panel, Jacqueline Jenkins branded the plans “ridiculous”.
Jenkins, the group’s chair, said patrons were already packing the “quite narrow” pavement where the pub’s smoking area is – forcing parents pushing buggies, disabled people and mobility scooter users into the road.
She added that many residents had complained to her, including older people who were too scared to walk around the market at night. “I’m not saying [customers] are actually doing anything wrong, but they feel intimidated because you’ve got people drinking outside your path.”
Jenkins described an episode when she had been taken ill but the watering hole had been permitted to shut the road for a World Cup game, and alleged that it delayed her getting help from her daughter.
Though the pub, “to give them their due”, did open the road, Jenkins said her health issue “could have been a lot worse, and then 10 minutes could have been fatal”.
Cllr Kam Adams (Labour, Hoxton East and Shoreditch) echoed the local group’s concerns, citing reports from residents of licensing rules being broken, loud noises at closing time, and customers blocking the path for prams, wheelchairs and the elderly.
However, Clark said Howl At The Moon had not received any noise complaints since December 2025. Ms Jenkins said residents had directed complaints to Cllr Adams.
The manager said this was the first he had heard of many reports of people struggling to get through, which he found “upsetting”. He reaffirmed that he wanted to ensure the outside space was controlled, but added that the World Cup incident illustrated the need to remove the licence’s current “hard lines” by making it easier to move people.
The committee indicated that it could settle on a compromise that between 8pm and 10pm, up to 30 people could drink outside – only from plastic cups – while the furniture was out. The post-10pm smoking space would have a limit of 20 people.
Councillors also made it mandatory for the pub to meet quarterly with residents, hosted by management. Clark agreed, adding that he would “make the tea”.
While Clark is the manager, the licence holder and applicant is Joseph Gerard Ryan, who is also the designated premises supervisor.
The licensing committee is expected to issue a final decision on the application within five working days of the hearing.
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