TAXPAYERS will have to shell out £10,000 after blundering officials at Ealing Council forgot to get their drinks licence in on time.

The mistake came to a head as revellers were getting ready to party the night away at Ealing Town Hall, on Saturday, December 10.

Despite being in charge of businesses' licences in the borough, the council had failed to get their own application by November 24, making it illegal for them to sell alcohol.

As a result, guests who were about to enjoy a rock concert in the town hall were thrown out by police who raided the venue.

To save the event, organisers quickly had to stump up thousands of pounds to cover the bar tab and give drinks out for free for the night to continue.

And five other events have so far had to reschedule or make changes to meet licensing rules, costing thousands of pounds.

Council executive director Tim Dauncey said an application to sell alcohol had now "recently been submitted". He said: "We are looking at every event on a case by case basis and this has meant the council donating some money to cover the costs of events. In taking this decision, the council needed to consider the compensation cost of cancelling these events, which could have been considerable."

Even the council's own staff Christmas party, which was due to be held on Wednesday, December 14, has been shelved until January due to the blunder. Mr Dauncey added: "We apologise for any inconvenience caused and are grateful to organisers of existing events who have agreed to either reschedule the event or work within the licensing rules to allow events to proceed."

Cllr Popham who raised the issue at the full council meeting last week said: "It is absolutely appalling. They have spent the entire year encouraging businesses to get their licence applications in on time and then they fail to do their own.

"It is extremely unprofessional they, as the licensing authority, should be whiter than white."