Committee members at Kingston Council have unanimously voted to reject slapping late-night venues with an alcohol tax.

The Late Night Levy Scheme, introduced nationwide in 2011, is a discretionary power which councils can adopt to help police tackle alcohol related crime and disorder.

It can only be applied to the borough as a whole, despite some areas being much busier and in need of more policing than others.

The concept has proven to be contentious- Hackney Council recently voted to implement the scheme sparking a massive backlash.

There was no contention at Kingston’s committee meeting, where all councillors agreed from the start.

Kington councillor Jon Tolley said the result was “excellent”.

He said: “There’s no real reason for it to happen.

“My take is that the amount of benefit it would have given the council is negligible but the amount of damage to businesses would have been quite big.

“They already pay quite a lot for scanning machines, first aid, bouncers and they pay the Kingston BID.

“These venues contribute to the town- it would have been unfair to victimise them.

“That’s not to say there’s nothing wrong with late night venues, there is, but this is not the way to tackle it.”

A Kingston Council spokeswoman said: “Kingston has a thriving, vibrant night time economy.

“We carefully considered the impact that the Levy might have on nightlife, and recognised that it could be negative and perhaps does not give the council the flexibility needed.

“It was right to look at this again, having last considered it in 2013, but for now it isn’t something that we would be looking to implement.”

The council will reassess the situation in four years.