Value Retail has applied to open Bicester Village until 01:30 daily and sell alcohol from 08:00. It shuts at 20:00 now. Comments close 15 September.

The company that runs Bicester Village has applied for a premises licence that would let the site stay open until 01:30, seven days a week, and sell alcohol from 08:00 until 01:00. Bicester Village currently lists its opening hours as 09:00 to 20:00. Anyone who wants to comment has until 15 September.

Value Retail Management (Bicester Village) applied to Cherwell District Council for the grant of a licence for premises “to be known as Bicester Village, 50 Pingle Drive, Bicester, OX26 6WD”. The statutory notice was published on 27 August.

The application asks for:

  • Retail sale of alcohol, for drinking on and off the premises, 08:00 to 01:00, Monday to Sunday
  • Regulated entertainment on and off the premises, 08:00 to 01:00, Monday to Sunday: live music, recorded music, performance of dance, performance of plays and films
  • Late night refreshment, indoors and outdoors, 23:00 to 01:00, Monday to Sunday
  • Opening hours of 08:00 to 01:30, Monday to Sunday

Set against the 09:00 to 20:00 the site advertises today, that is an extra hour in the morning and five and a half hours at night, every day of the week.

Bicester Village advertised opening hours against the hours applied for Bar comparison across a 24-hour axis. Bicester Village currently advertises 09:00 to 20:00, eleven hours. The premises licence application seeks opening hours of 08:00 to 01:30, seventeen and a half hours, with alcohol sales and regulated entertainment from 08:00 to 01:00 and late night refreshment from 23:00 to 01:00. What Bicester Village opens now, and what it has asked for Every day of the week. The axis runs 06:00 to 02:00 the following morning. 06:00 11:00 16:00 21:00 02:00 Advertised now 09:00 to 20:00 11 hours Opening applied for 08:00 to 01:30 17 hours 30 minutes Alcohol and entertainment 08:00 to 01:00 17 hours Late night refreshment 23:00 to 01:00 2 hrs Sources: premises licence application notice under s.17 Licensing Act 2003, published 27 August 2026; Bicester Village advertised hours. Graphic by Banbury Online

What it means for you

If nobody objects, the council has to grant it. That is the part worth understanding. Under section 18 of the Licensing Act 2003, where no relevant representations are made, the licensing authority “must grant the licence” in line with the application. There is no discretion to trim the hours, and no hearing. Silence is a yes.

A representation has to be about one of four things. The council can only weigh comments against the licensing objectives in section 4 of the Act:

  • the prevention of crime and disorder
  • public safety
  • the prevention of public nuisance
  • the protection of children from harm

Objections about competition with Bicester town centre traders, or about traffic in general, are not relevant to a licensing decision and will not count. Noise late at night, dispersal of people and vehicles after midnight, and the safety of a large site operating into the early hours all are.

Anyone can write in, not just neighbours. The Act allows representations from “a responsible authority or other person”. The old test that limited it to people living near the premises is gone. The council can set aside a representation it considers frivolous or vexatious, and must tell you why if it does.

How to comment, by 15 September:

  • Write to the Licensing Authority, Cherwell District Council, 39 Castle Quay, Banbury, OX16 5FD
  • Or email licensing@cherwell-dc.gov.uk
  • Telephone 01295 753744
  • The full application can be inspected by appointment at that address, and on the council’s online licensing register

Say which of the four objectives your point relates to. A representation that does not engage one of them cannot be taken into account, however strongly it is put.

What we could not confirm

The council’s online licensing register sits behind an automated challenge that we could not read, so we have not been able to check what licences already exist on the site or read the application’s operating schedule. Everything above comes from the statutory notice the applicant is legally required to publish, and from Bicester Village’s own advertised hours.

That notice does not say what the extended hours are for. It does not mention an event programme, a change of tenant mix, or building work. The wording “premises to be known as Bicester Village” is the standard formula for a licence covering a named site, and the application is being handled by Poppleston Allen, a Nottingham firm of licensing solicitors.

It is an offence to knowingly or recklessly make a false statement in connection with such an application. The maximum fine on summary conviction is £5,000.

Bicester is the district’s other main town, about 20 miles south-east of Banbury. Cherwell District Council is the licensing authority for both, and its offices are in Banbury.