PLANS to give drinkers a say on the future of their local pubs may not be introduced until August.

An outline of work proposed by the council, and seen by The Press, suggests work on the policy will not begin until late summer - eight weeks after a committee report is written.

Councillors passed a notice of motion in December calling on the authority to put a blanket Article 4 Direction (A4D) on all of York's pubs.

This would mean companies hoping to convert watering holes into mini-supermarkets must make a planning application to the authority, but campaigners are set to wait another five months to see this happen.

At the moment, each pub must apply for an A4D when they come under threat as a planning loophole means supermarket giants can move into pubs if they strike a deal with its brewery, leaving locals with no say on the matter.

Cllr Andy D'Agorne, the Green party councillor who tabled the motion, said: "Cabinet members have so far not indicated whether or not they support this approach.

"However, I would expect that it will clearly be a decision after the election, taking into account the potential to use the registration of the most vulnerable pubs as ‘assets of community value’ as shorter term option.

"I expect officers to progress the work on this, in accordance with the motion passed in December."

The Press launched its Be Vocal For Your Local campaign in November.

It called on both City of York Council and the Government to make changes at their respective levels to give people a say on pubs in their area after three city pubs – The Punch Bowl, The Saddle Inn and The Corner House – were threatened with being converted into supermarkets.

A spokeswoman for City of York Council said the implementation of an A4D requires the cabinet's final agreement.

This will not happen until after the election, but the council has proposed to start work on the policy after that.