Boris Johnson

The petition against the large William Hill on LL went nowhere because the magistrate's hands were tied - at the time, William Hill already had a licence for the smaller premises a few doors along from the Cheese Block and basically transferred that to the large, new premises. The magistrate did point out that she objected to more betting shops in the area and would have rejected it if it had been a new application. But that's all water under the bridge now... http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/jan/12/consumeraffairs.gambling ... magistrates no longer have the power to rule on such matters.