PLANS to extend pub opening hours to 1am in Scotland's largest city have been axed amid pressure from the police.

Glasgow's licensing board had announced earlier in the autumn that it intended to give around 225 premises an optional extra hour which would have been implemented before the end of the year.

But after a public consultation, the board has announced a U-turn on the move that would have brought Glasgow into line with Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

Plans to allow several nightclubs outside the city centre's boundaries to open until 3am have also been halted, with the current curfew of 2am remaining in place.

Police Scotland had said such a move was likely to lead to an increase in public nuisance and disorder in residential areas.

But the licensing board has allowed "on-sales licensed premises", essentially pubs and clubs, to remain open an hour later throughout the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

Last night, confirming the 1am plans were now off the table, the new chairman of the licensing board, Bill Butler, said: "There has been an unprecedented level of engagement during the preparation of the policy statement and I think that shows in the final document.

"At the outset we wanted to develop a set of policies that are credible, supported by evidence and that are able to carry stakeholders along with us.

"The consultation process generated a level of evidence and detail on licensing issues in Glasgow that we've never seen before. That gives us confidence that we now have a robust set of policies that match both the needs of communities and the expectations of the trade."

For their own very different reasons, both the police and nightclub operators have been lobbying heavily against the new proposals since the consultation was launched in early September.

It also follows a pattern of increasing intervention by the police in licensing matters across the country.

At the time of the launch, licensing chiefs said the 1am plan was due to changing socialising habits and the reluctance of older pub customers to continue their evening in nightclubs after midnight. The additional hour, they said, would not necessarily equate to more people consuming more alcohol.

It also followed criticism from Edinburgh's licensing chief that Glasgow's policy was antiquated.

One leading trade source in the city said: "This decision seems to be based on a proper and robust consultation where the balance of opinion doesn't favour the change.

"But it's an enormous shame that trade opponents have taken such a regressive attitude that puts Scotland out of touch with other cities in Scotland."

Mr Butler said: "Next year the eyes of the world will be on us during the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. We believe this policy statement will allow us to strike a balance between celebrating this great occasion in an appropriate fashion and meeting the key objective of promoting and protecting public health. I'd like to thank everyone for their contribution in helping to achieve this position."

Chief Superintendent Andy Bates, divisional commander for Greater Glasgow division, said: "I am pleased the views of Police Scotland and the evidence I provided were of benefit to the board in their deliberations, particularly in relation to core licensing hours and their decision to retain the current standard terminal hours."

Several new areas of the city have also been declared as having reached saturation point for licensed premises.