Holloway Road Arcade Licence: Police, 220 Residents Object

Islington councillors will decide on Tuesday 6 October whether a 24-hour amusement arcade in the old Barclays bank at 403 Holloway Road should get a gambling licence.

The Metropolitan Police, three council teams, two ward councillors and 220 residents have objected. The council received 226 representations in all. Licensing Sub-Committee A hears the application at 6.30pm in the Council Chamber at the Town Hall on Upper Street (Islington Council, agenda).

The applicant is Cain’s Amusements, a Herne Bay company that wants to trade there as Jackpot Slots. The same unit was refused planning permission on 22 September. The licence is a separate decision, and the committee has to make it on different grounds.

Who has objected

The officers’ report lists representations from:

• the Metropolitan Police
• Islington Council’s Public Health team
• the council’s Community Safety Team
• the Licensing Authority itself
• two ward councillors
• 220 residents

Officers make no recommendation either way. They ask the committee to decide the application “on its merits” (officers’ report).

What the police and the council say

The Met asks the committee to refuse. Its licensing unit says the site is in one of Islington’s Gambling Vulnerability Zones, with five gambling premises nearby. It says the applicant has not shown how it would identify and protect vulnerable customers. It also warns that 24-hour opening can increase the risk of robbery and of customers arriving drunk. The Met’s own analysis found 443 priority incidents in Tufnell Park ward between January and mid-July 2026, and nearly 60% of the anti-social behaviour reports were nuisance-related.

The Community Safety Team calls Nag’s Head a hotspot. It has logged 343 street anti-social behaviour reports in the Nag’s Head town centre since July 2025. Of those, 196 were for rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour and 110 were drug-related. The team points out that the entrance to Bowman’s Mews, one of the streets it watches most closely, is less than 65 metres from the site. It says the arcade would be a fifth gambling venue in the town centre, and it is “particularly concerned” about the 24-hour hours.

The Licensing Authority says the cluster is already there. It counts two adult gaming centres and three betting shops within 250 metres. It says the site sits next to an area with a Gambling Risk Index score of 71 to 80, and that no part of the borough scores higher. It found nothing in the applicant’s risk assessment that dealt with the site being in a vulnerability zone.

Public Health says the applicant got the distances wrong. Its representation compares the distances in the applicant’s original risk assessment with its own measurements from the front door.

Public Health also lists places the assessment left out. Among them are the borough’s child and adolescent mental health service and Capital City College’s Holloway Centre, both 0.3 miles away, and the National Youth Theatre, 0.2 miles away.

Cllr Devon Osborne, a Tufnell Park ward councillor, says the assessment put the two nearest arcades at 0.6 miles and 0.1 miles away. The councillor says both are within sight of the site and a minute’s walk (councillor’s representation).

What the applicant says

Cain’s Amusements filed written submissions on 28 September. It asks for the licence to be granted for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without any limit on hours (applicant’s submissions).

It makes these points:

• it is a family business that has traded since the 1890s, and it runs eight adult gaming centres and four family entertainment centres, including one in Bethnal Green
• none of its premises has ever been the subject of a review, an investigation or a regulatory sanction
• it would spend about £500,000 fitting out the empty bank and employ seven people
• the two nearest arcades already open around the clock
• the doors would stay maglocked at all hours, with facial recognition screening and ID checks for anyone who looks under 25
• licensed door staff would work at higher-risk times, including after nearby pubs close

The company accepts that its June 2026 risk assessment understated the distances to the mosque, Grafton Primary School, several pawnbrokers and the two nearest gambling premises. It calls that “a genuine mistake” made from incomplete online sources, and says it has been corrected.

Its main legal argument is section 153 of the Gambling Act 2005. That says a licensing authority “shall aim to permit” gambling where it is reasonably consistent with the licensing objectives. The company argues that clustering, planning, public nuisance and general arguments about deprivation cannot, on their own, justify a refusal.

Why the planning refusal does not settle it

Under section 210 of the Gambling Act 2005, a licensing authority must not take planning into account when it decides a gambling licence. So the committee cannot refuse simply because planning permission was refused.

The reverse also holds. A licence would not let the arcade open on its own. The change of use still needs planning permission, so Cain’s Amusements would also have to win a planning appeal. It has until 22 March 2027 to lodge one.

What it means for you

• The hearing is public. It starts at 6.30pm on Tuesday 6 October in the Council Chamber, Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, N1 2UD. The council’s meeting page carries a link to the webcast.
• Only people who made a representation can speak. The deadline for those closed in the summer.
• The decision may not be announced on the night. We will report it when the council publishes it.
• Either side can appeal. A licensing decision under the Gambling Act can be appealed to the magistrates’ court.

Sources

• Islington Council: Licensing Sub-Committee A, 6 October 2026, agenda and papers, including the officers’ report and appendices: the application, the 226 representations, and the full texts of the Met Police, Public Health, Community Safety and Licensing Authority representations.
• Applicant’s written submissions, 28 September 2026.
• Representation of Cllr Devon Osborne.
• Gambling Act 2005, section 210.