Greene King bid for 1am drinking and a basement bar at Westerham's Kings Arms goes to a hearing after residents object

A bid by Greene King to keep the Kings Arms Hotel in Westerham open until 1.30am at weekends, with alcohol served until 1am and a long-unused basement bar brought back into service, went before a Sevenoaks District Council licensing panel on 28 July after six residents objected. (Sevenoaks District Council, Licensing Hearing, 28 July 2026)

The brewer, which holds the premises licence for the Market Square coaching inn, applied to vary it so that alcohol could be sold from 10am to 11pm Sunday to Thursday and from 10am to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays, in place of the current 11am to 11pm and 11am to midnight. Indoor live and recorded music would run until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays rather than 11pm, and hot food could be served until 1am on those nights. The application also adds the basement to the area licensed for alcohol sales. (Sevenoaks District Council, committee report to the Licensing Sub-Committee, 28 July 2026)

A £1.4m refurbishment rides on it

The application is not arriving on its own. In written submissions to the sub-committee, Greene King’s representative said around £1.4 million is to be invested in the hotel, which the submissions describe as “‘tired’ and in need of investment”, with roughly 10 to 15 further local jobs expected on top of the current staff of 24. The basement bar, part of the building but “substantially unused” for a significant period, would host small functions of up to 60 people. The submissions say the premises, which has traded as a coaching inn and hotel since the 17th century, has 18 rooms and is run by designated premises supervisor Victoria Witheridge, who has 35 years in the licensed trade. (Greene King, applicant’s outline submissions to the Licensing Sub-Committee, 22 July 2026)

The variation would also permit alcohol and hot food to be served 24 hours a day to hotel residents and their bona fide guests, which the submissions call “a well-established exemption for residential premises across the country”. Opening hours applied for run to 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

None of the statutory bodies consulted stood in the way. Kent Police and the council’s environmental health team both responded with no objections, and the other responsible authorities, from child protection to trading standards, made no comment. The applicant provided a noise management plan to the council’s environmental protection officer during the consultation. (Committee report)

What the neighbours say

Six valid representations from residents were enough to send the application to a hearing rather than a routine grant. The objections, published with the committee papers, centre on noise from the rear terrace and garden, drinkers dispersing through the car park late at night, and what one objector called the risk of the hotel becoming “the only late-night drinking establishment in the town and a potential magnet for unsocial activity” once other pubs close. (Representations at Appendix F to the committee report)

One resident who overlooks the car park and garden wrote that “we have tolerated noise levels with the existing hours for some 20 years, we object to any change”. Another argued that music would carry regardless of being indoors: “The Kings Arms is a Grade II Listed Building, so the windows do not retain the sound, plus in warmer weather the windows and doors will be open.” Several asked, if the variation is granted, for conditions requiring doors and windows to stay shut during entertainment, the outside areas to be closed and cleared late at night, and noise to be monitored.

The applicant’s answer

Greene King’s submissions push back on the migration argument, saying the neighbouring bar Frankie’s already has the benefit of a licence to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays and that the George and Dragon opposite is permitted to remain open until 1am every day of the week, whatever hours those premises actually choose to keep. One objector had stated the George and Dragon currently opens 8am to 11pm Monday to Saturday. (Applicant’s outline submissions; Appendix F)

On noise, the submissions say the application does not seek to extend use of the rear terrace at all, and commit to clearing the external areas of customers, with no alcohol consumption outside, after 11pm. The basement bar has no windows “from which noise escape could emanate”, and at ground floor level doors and windows would stay closed during entertainment except for people coming and going. At closing time the front door onto Market Square is locked, with returning hotel guests using the rear entrance. The submissions add that none of the objectors has complained to the current management team about the day-to-day running of the hotel.

What happens next

The sub-committee could grant the variation as applied for, grant it with modified hours or extra conditions, or reject it. (Committee report) Under the hearings regulations the council had to make its determination within five working days of the hearing, which fell on Monday 3 August, but no decision notice or minutes had been published on the council’s committee pages when we checked on 6 August. (The Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, regulation 26) We will report the outcome once the written decision is on the public record.

Whichever way it goes, it may not be the end. Both the applicant and anyone who made a representation can appeal to the magistrates’ court within 21 days of being notified of the decision in writing. (Committee report)

What it means for residents

The consultation on this application ran from 5 to 30 June and is closed, so the decision now rests with the sub-committee. The full papers, including the plans, the current licence and every representation, are on the council’s committee pages for anyone who wants to read what was actually before the panel. (Licensing Hearing, 28 July 2026, agenda and reports) Future licensing applications across the district appear on the council’s public licensing register, which is updated to the end of the previous working day; our report on the Fleur De Lis licence application in Leigh explains how commenting on a licence application works and what counts as a relevant objection.

Greene King’s investment plans are a change of direction locally for the brewer, which put another of its historic Kent pubs, the Fleur De Lis in Leigh, up for sale in 2025. For what is open across the district now, see our guide to the best pubs in Sevenoaks and its villages.

Sources

• Sevenoaks District Council, Licensing Hearing, 28 July 2026, agenda and reports
• Sevenoaks District Council, committee report: application to vary a premises licence, Kings Arms Hotel, Market Square, Westerham
• Representations, Appendix F to the committee report
• Applicant’s outline submissions, Kings Arms Westerham, TLT LLP for Greene King, 22 July 2026
• The Licensing Act 2003 (Hearings) Regulations 2005, regulation 26
• Sevenoaks District Council, public licensing register

Image: The Kings Arms Hotel, Market Square, Westerham by Paul Farmer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Geograph. The photograph shows the hotel before the refurbishment now proposed.