A ROYAL British Legion has been given the go-ahead to open early on a Sunday after installing Sky for its customers.

The manager of Dunbar Royal British Legion told a virtual meeting of East Lothian Council's licensing board that they were losing customers to rival pubs because they did not open early enough for some football games.

Laura Logan urged the board to allow the Legion, which was allowed to open at 12.30pm on a Sunday under its current alcohol licence, to open at 11am instead so it could compete.

She said: “We recently had Sky installed to allow customers to view sports but a lot of games start at 12pm. Other locals open at 11am and we cannot compete so we are not getting any customers.”

Local police officer PC Graham Bairden said that staff at the Legion worked well with the Force, describing them as “excellent and very proactive”.

He told the board: “I do not see a change to the operating hours causing any issues on a Sunday morning.”

Councillor Lachlan Bruce, board member, said: “I am happy to support this change.

"The Royal British Legion across East Lothian do a great job supporting the Services and we should help make sure they can compete with their neighbours.”

The new Sunday opening hours were granted unanimously by the board.