THE need to protect the future of pubs in this city has long been a concern to many, including this newspaper.

The aim of our Be Vocal For Your Local campaign has been to give people a say on what happens to their local.

To that end, we have asked for City of York Council to put in force a protection order to force companies to apply for planning permission before converting local pubs to other uses.

So it is disappointing to learn that any pub protection law could be delayed by the council for up to nine months. This is long enough for pubs at risk to slip through the net and disappear altogether before proper protection can be put into force. We really hope that matters can be speeded up.