TWO York city centre stores have applied for a licence to sell alcohol through the night in the run-up to Christmas.

Marks & Spencer is seeking permission from City of York Council to sell alcohol 24 hours a day in its Davygate and the Coppergate stores throughout November and December.

But the retailer insisted today that this did NOT mean there was any prospect of the stores following the lead of out-of-town supermarkets such as Tesco and staying open through the night.

A spokeswoman said in a statement: "We have no intention of opening our York stores for 24 hours.

"We have applied for the licence in order to ensure we have sufficient cover for our stores which are open for longer periods over Christmas."

She refused to comment further, other than to confirm that Marks & Spencer did open a small number of stores for 24 hours a day last Christmas, but only in the week running up to December 25.

Updated: 08:51 Saturday, February 18, 2006