For more information about ensuring compliance during the festive season, contact us on 01332 226 151 or complete the form below.
Submit Temporary Event Notices (TENs) early for festive events to avoid last-minute issues. Check deadlines and restrictions carefully.
Licensing|01 December 2025
Insight
With the festive period now in full swing, venue operators may wish to consider using Temporary Event Notices (TENs) if they don’t have a suitable licence, avoiding early last orders at your venue during the holiday season.
TENs can be used to carry out a licensable activity, such as the sale of alcohol, or providing entertainment such as live or recorded music on unlicensed premises. They can also be used by licensed premises if they wish to extend and trade beyond the hours permitted under their licence.
There are, however, certain timescales involved for lodging TENs, and with Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve only a matter of weeks away, it is best to get organised and lodge your TENs as soon as possible – our advice would be to not leave it until the last minute!
You must lodge a standard TEN with the local authority at least 10 clear working days before your event. You have 5 clear working days before the event to lodge a Late TEN.
We’ve compiled the table below to highlight notable TENs deadlines during the Christmas period :
| EVENT: | STANDARD TEN DEADLINE: | LATE TEN DEADLINE: |
|---|---|---|
| Christmas Eve | Tuesday 09 December | Tuesday 16 December |
| Christmas Day | Wednesday 10 December | Wednesday 17 December |
| Boxing Day | Wednesday 10 December | Wednesday 17 December |
| New Year’s Eve | Friday 12 December | Friday 19 December |
| New Year’s Day | Monday 15 December | Monday 22 December |
If applying for a TEN, be mindful that there are a few restrictions that apply. These include:
There are also restrictions on the number of TENs that can be applied for, such as:
Unless the police or environmental health object to a TEN, then the council cannot refuse it.
However, if this is the case, they must do so within 3 working days. There are several reasons for which the police or environmental health may refuse your TEN application, including that the event could:
If there is an objection, a hearing will be held no later than 24 hours before the event, unless all parties agree that a hearing is not necessary. At the hearing, the committee will either approve, add conditions, or reject the notice.
A hearing is only available for standard TENs. If an objection is made to a late TEN, you will not be able to hold the event.
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