Pavement licensing

A pavement licence allows cafes, pubs, ice cream parlours or restaurants that sell food to put tables, chairs or furniture on a public pavement.

The furniture which may be used is:

• counters or stalls for selling or serving food or drink
• tables, counters or shelves on which food or drink can be placed
• chairs, benches or other forms of seating
• umbrellas, barriers, heaters and other items used in connection with the outdoor consumption of food and drink

We would also expect the type of furniture to be ‘in keeping’ with the local area.

We will only grant a pavement licence until 9 pm, all furniture must be removed after this time.

This licence does not allow you to serve alcohol if you do not have an alcohol licence. You would need to apply for a premises licence.

Apply

Before you apply you’ll need to provide the following information:

• location plan with the outline of the premises in red line
• proposed days and times of the week when furniture will be put on the highway.  We will only grant a pavement licence until 9pm
• photos or brochures showing the proposed type of furniture and information on the potential siting of it within the area applied
• copy of your current public liability insurance certificate (minimum value of £5 million)
• seating plan showing:
  • measurements from the front of the property to the highway
  • how seating will be arranged which should include measurements between tables and access to the premises
  • measurements of all items within the area for example bins, awnings, gazebos

Once we have received and verified your application we will send you a public notice. You must display this notice at the premises and email us 2 photographs showing the notice on display. One of the photographs must show the detail of the notice and the other how it is displayed at the premises.

Example seating plan - select for a larger image. 

If you require this seating plan in an accessible format, please email licensing@arun.gov.uk

If applicable you’ll also need to provide:

• the reference of any existing pavement licence under consideration by us
• any other evidence needed to show how any conditions will be met

After selecting the button below you’ll need to:

1. Have a credit or debit card for payment
2. Create an account if you do not already have one.
3. Select licensing.
4. Select apply for a licence.
5. Select Street Trading.
6. Select New application or renewal
7. Follow the onscreen instructions.

There is a fee for this service.

Apply for a pavement licence

What happens next

Applications are consulted upon for 7 days which start the day after we have received the application.

We will then publish details of the application on our website.

To see pavement licence applications you’ll need to choose pavement licence from the licence type dropdown.

We will also consult with the following:

• Highways Authority
• economic development department
• environmental health department
• property and estates department
• planning department
• West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service
• Sussex Police
• local ward councillor(s)
• parish or town council
• Littlehampton Traders Partnership
• Arundel Chamber of Commerce
• Bognor Regis Business Improvement District

We must consider any representations received during the public consultation period.

We will grant licences for 12 months unless there are good reasons for granting a licence for a shorter period. This could be for example because of plans for future changes in the use of the road space. Unless there is a specified reason for a shorter duration, the license will be for a period of 12 months. A pavement licence may not be issued for under 3 months and all current licenses will expire on 30 September 2024.