The Council have warned us that businesses that need to apply for new alcohol and night café licences are being warned that they only have one business day (today) left to do so if they want to avoid lots of extra work and expense.

Under new legislation, all businesses that sell alcohol, provide public entertainment or operate as a night café must obtain a new licence under the country's new licensing laws. The deadline for submitting an application to the council is Saturday, August 6.

Establishments that submit their applications in time face a relatively straightforward process in exchanging their existing licence for one under the new legislation. However, businesses that fail to meet Saturday's deadline will need to apply for a new licence from scratch and this will involve a great deal of inconvenience and expense for them.

Some businesses that don�t apply in time may also be prevented from opening their doors to customers when the new drinks laws come into effect at the end of November. This could cause them to suffer losses during the traditionally busy and profitable run up to Christmas.

To give businesses more time to meet the deadline, the council's environmental services offices at 78 Garratt Lane, next to the Southside shopping centre, will be open on Saturday, August 6 from 9am to 5pm to help those that submit last minute applications.

Head of environmental services Andy Waren said: "Hundreds of Wandsworth bar and pub owners really are drinking in the last chance saloon this week because they have not yet submitted their applications.

"They only have three days left to do this vitally important task. If they miss Saturday's deadline then this could cost them dear because they will have to apply for a new licence from scratch and this will be very time consuming and expensive for them.

"On top of that they might find that come the end of November, they do not actually hold a licence and they will be breaking the law if they try to sell drinks to their customers. As the few weeks before Christmas is traditionally the busiest time of the year for pubs, bars and restaurants, missing Saturday's deadline could be a very costly mistake for them.

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"We are doing all we can to help businesses meet Saturday's deadline. We will be opening up our offices up especially for them and will have staff on hand to help advise and guide people in filling out the application forms.

"This legislation affects all alcohol related businesses and night cafes and anyone who runs or owns one must apply for a new licence by Saturday, even if they aren�t proposing any changes to their existing licence. If they haven't done so already this really now is the time for them to act."

Despite repeated warnings to local businesses about the importance of meeting this deadline, so far only 712 out of an estimated 1,040 licensed premises have applied for a new licence.

Over the past fortnight, staff in the council's environmental services division have been visiting all pubs, bars, nightclubs, social clubs, off-licences and night cafés that haven't sent in their applications to alert them to Saturday's deadline.

In addition, the borough's five town centre managers have also been spreading the message to all the businesses on their patch that need to get new licences.

Licensees can find more information by visiting www.wandsworth.gov.uk/licensing. They can also get advice by telephoning (020) 8871 6160 or emailing licensing@wandsworth.gov.uk