Castleford lights switch on: Trader banned from mulled wine sales Published duration 17 November 2019

image copyright Getty Images image caption Glenn Davison said it was the first time in 15 years that he had been rejected

A trader banned from selling mulled wine at a town's festive lights switch-on says a council is "anti-Christmas".

Glenn Davison applied for a temporary licence to serve the seasonal drink from his pop-up stall at the event in Castleford, on Tuesday.

But Wakefield Council blocked the bid over concerns about street drinkers taking advantage of the sale.

"I don't think street drinkers will be interested in the mulled wine I'm selling," Mr Davison said.

"[It] is very weak. It's about 2%, so you'd have to drink about six glasses to feel any effect."

Parts of the town centre are covered by a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO), which was put in place in 2017 to stop anti-social behaviour related to street drinking.

The order allows police to issue on-the-spot fines to offenders and to seize alcohol.

Come Dine With Me winner

At a licensing hearing on Friday, police said the stall would be too close to where the PSPO is in force, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

They said no access-restrictions would be in place around the stalls, unlike at other Christmas markets where visitors can only drink alcohol within a gated area.

Mr Davison, a former winner of TV show Come Dine With Me from Hull, said he will still be at the event, selling non-alcoholic mulled wine.

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