Shaken not purred: Westminster residents’ anger over cat cafe given booze licence despite complaints
A cat café has won a licence to sell booze, despite complaints from angry neighbours.
Java Whiskers in Marylebone has been given permission to sell alcohol in the basement of the café, despite neighbours complaining it would be a “nuisance”.
A licensing report shows the business, in Great Portland Street, already had a licence to stay open from 9am until 10pm seven-days-a-week.
It also had permission to sell alcohol on the ground floor of the premises, but wanted to extend this to the basement.
But some people said the cafe shouldn’t be allowed to sell booze underground, claiming it would disturb their “peaceful” corner of the city.
One resident said in a letter to the council: “While the area supports a number of businesses in the daytime, the nights are relatively quiet and peaceful, which is well appreciated by the people who live here. The hours proposed are well outside what is “normal” for the area.
“There is huge potential to be a public nuisance and the proposed changes would disturb any residents locally. I fail to see how this level of beverage service is required for a cat shelter – it would appear to be indicative of the owners seeking to turn the premises into a bar.”
A spokeswoman for Java Whiskers said customers can only stay there for a maximum of two hours and they can’t take alcohol outside the café.
She also said the business has previously hosted a few hen parties “without any issues”.
She added: “There’s no possibility for them to have bottles and bottles of alcohol. We don’t really have people getting drunk and going outside.”
The cats at Java are homeless but the business aims to pair them with adoptive parents. The current menu includes alcoholic drinks like wine and lager.
The licensing report also said customers must book a visit to Java Whiskers in advance. Westminster City council’s licensing team approved the licence at a meeting on Thursday.
Pictured top: Java Whiskers cafe in Marylebone (Picture: Google Street View)
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