Skip to main content

Temporary event notices

General information

A Temporary Event Notice (TEN) is required if you want to carry out a ‘licensable activity’ on unlicensed premises.

Licensable activity includes:

  • selling alcohol
  • serving alcohol to members of a private club
  • providing entertainment, such as music, dancing or indoor sporting events
  • serving hot food or drink between 11pm and 5am

Restrictions and conditions apply.

Restrictions

Your event must:

  • have fewer than 500 people at any one time, including staff running the event
  • last no more than 168 hours, or seven days

Restrictions for you:

  • you must be at least 18 years old to apply for a TEN
  • you will need a TEN for each event you hold on the same premises
  • you can get up to five TENs a year, or up to 50 TENs a year if you already have a personal licence to sell alcohol

Restrictions for the premises:

  • a single premises can have up to 15 notices applied for in one year
  • you will need a TEN for each event
  • TENs must total not more than 21 days in one year 
  • if you're organising separate but consecutive events, there must be at least a 24 hour gap between them

Late TENS restrictions:

  • you can apply for a ‘late TEN’ up to five working days before the event
  • you can apply for up to 10 late TENs per calendar year, or up to two if you don't have a personal licence. Late TENs count towards the total number of permitted TENs.

How to apply

To apply for a standard temporary event notice or a Late Temporary Event Notice:

  • you must do so at least 10 working days before your event, or
  • you can apply for a ‘late TEN’ up to five working days before the event
  • you need to pay a £21 fee
  • you must send a copy of the TEN to the police and environmental health, at least 10 working days before the event – if you apply online, we will do this for you
  • the date of submitting the TEN and the day of the event are not included in the total number of working days before the event

Search the register for temporary event notices

You can use our Public Access System to search details of Temporary Event Notices for this or previous years.