JOHN Lewis has applied for a late night premises licence for its planned store at the Westgate Shopping Centre.

The retailer wants to be able to sell alcoholic drinks from 8am to 12.30am on Mondays to Thursdays, and until 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.

It has also applied to sell ‘late night refreshment – hot food and hot drinks – between 11pm and 1am on Mondays to Thursdays and until 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

An application lodged with Oxford City Council said it received the request on May 3, with a public consultation running until May 31.

Designs published of John Lewis’ Oxford store show a rooftop area, but the retailer declined to say if this would be used for selling food and drink.

One of its London stores also has a rooftop area and a pub operates during the summer.

A spokesman for John Lewis said: “We’re happy to confirm our application for a new premises license in anticipation of the opening of John Lewis Oxford. This represents another important step for this new shop, which is on track to open alongside the wider Westgate development on October 24.

"We are very excited to become a part of Oxford’s ever-growing business community and we’ve made great progress with the shop opening plans so far, and look forward to confirming more details in the coming weeks.”