An Ipswich bar which has applied to remain open until 4am has said that there is demand in the town  

Moloko bar in Lion Street, in the town centre, has asked Ipswich Borough Council to extend its opening hours. It hopes to remain open until 4am on Fridays and Saturdays, and until midnight from Sunday to Thursday. 

The bar is currently open until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, and closes at 10pm or earlier the rest of the week. 

Bar manager Elvis Alika explained that the bar had made this application due to demand from customers.  

“Come two o’clock, we still have customers,” he said. “We’ve seen in recent months that people want to carry on, and we have to kick them out because our licence doesn’t allow us to open past 2am.  

“Hence why we wanted to extend the opening.” 

However, he added that if the bar is granted permission to extend its hours, that does not necessarily mean it will choose to remain open until 4am. 

“We just wanted to have it as an option,” he explained. 

Back in May, the bar began a policy of only allowing entry to customers aged over 21 after 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays.  

Elvis explained that this policy was still in effect, and that business for Moloko was going well. 

He added that the bar had seen business increase in recent months, and hoped it would continue to do so with the Christmas period approaching. 

Other premises in Ipswich have also recently applied to extend their opening hours. 

The Cock and Pye pub in Upper Brook Street has asked the council’s permission to remain open from 8am until 4.30am on Friday and Saturdays, and from 8am until 2.30am from Sunday to Thursday. 

This application will be discussed at a meeting of the council’s Licensing and regulatory sub-committee on Thursday, but is expected to be refused. 

Suffolk Police has suggested that the business should reduce its requested times to 4am.