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Allowing bars to stay open later into the night can lead to increases in alcohol-related ambulance call-outs and crimes, according to new research.

The study examined the impact of extending alcohol trading hours for licensed premises in Aberdeen and Glasgow. It forms part of a wider project led by the 黑料不打烊 exploring how late-night alcohol policies affect public health, businesses and frontline services.

Professor Niamh Fitzgerald of The Institute for Social Marketing and Health (ISMH), who leads the wider research programme, said: “Our study shows that local authorities need greater powers to control the number and type of venues that are allowed to open later at night because large-scale extensions will result in increased health harms and crimes.

“Whilst this part of the research didn’t find measurable impacts in Glasgow, local stakeholders reported in interviews that the 4am extension, in just 10 nightclubs there, put frontline services under severe strain.”

Ambulance call-outs and reported crime rose

The analysis found that when 38 pubs and bars in Aberdeen were granted permission to sell alcohol for up to two hours later at night – some until 3am – between March 2017 and October 2020, alcohol-related ambulance call-outs on weekend nights increased by 11.4%. Reported crimes also rose by 8.5% over the same period.

Researchers also found that the peak time for alcohol-related ambulance call-outs shifted to later in the night – from between midnight and 1am to between 1am and 2am – suggesting that extended trading hours may have changed drinking patterns. The increase in call-outs was particularly pronounced among men and people aged under 45.

By contrast, the study found no measurable change in alcohol-related ambulance call-outs or reported crime after 10 nightclubs in Glasgow were granted a one-hour extension to 4am in April 2019. Researchers suggest the lack of measurable effect in Glasgow may be linked to the smaller number of venues involved relative to the size of the city, and the shorter extension. Stakeholders who took part in the research in Glasgow reported their experiences of negative impacts on services, in findings that are forthcoming later this year.  

Additional opening hours and negative outcomes linked

Dr Md Nurnabi Sheikh of the University of Glasgow, who led the analysis, said: “This research is the first in the UK to look at the impact of later trading times on ambulance call-outs, and our findings in Aberdeen demonstrate a clear link between additional opening hours and increased negative outcomes.

“The significant negative impact on both alcohol-related ambulance call-outs and reported crimes in Aberdeen, where more pub and bar premises had longer extensions, highlights the need to consider both the number and types of venues that can operate extended opening times.”

Higher levels of intoxication increases risk

Acute alcohol harms are particularly common late at night, especially on weekends when higher levels of intoxication increase the risk of injuries and violence. In Scotland, more than 31,000 alcohol-specific hospital admissions were recorded between 2022 and 2023.

The published paper was published in BMJ Public Health.

The research forms part of the Evaluating Later and Expanded Premises Hours for Alcohol in the Night-time Economy (ELEPHANT) study, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research Public Health Research programme and led by ISMH at the 黑料不打烊.

ISMH is a world-leading centre for research in marketing, behaviour change and public policy,?with more than 40 years' experience of research leading to improvements in population health and wellbeing, and a?World Health Organization?Collaborating Centre for Alcohol Policy and Public Health Research.