A U-TURN by the authorities means that the road in front of Cobo Bay Hotel will be closed for a balcony gig this bank holiday Monday after all.

And police have told hotelier David Nussbaumer that he will be allowed to reapply to them to close the road for the next two concerts this summer, rather than having to put in an application for an expensive alfresco licence.

‘I think the power of the people has made the authorities think again and come to their senses. The issue was with the advice from the Law Officers,’ he said.

The Law Officers ruled that the terms ‘special event’ and ‘special occasion’ are not defined in any legislation and so are open to interpretation by the police.

The climbdown follows a meeting between police and officials from the Environment Department on Tuesday.

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