Police have warned a Wembley pub "cannot be trusted" in its bid to serve drink while screening a series of cup and league finals.

Pubs around the national stadium operate under strict rules, such as not showing Wembley games on television or selling alcohol from an hour before kick-off until 15 minutes afterwards.

The owner of the Arch pub in Harrow Road, Savan Patel, has applied to Brent Council to lift these conditions for the FA Cup Final on May 25, the Championship Play-Off Final on May 26, and the UEFA Champions League Final on June 1.

The council’s alcohol and licensing sub-committee will review the application next week (April 9), but one of the Metropolitan Police’s dedicated football officers, PC Paul Jennings, said stopping alcohol sales before kick-off helps get supporters into the stadium safely and prevents crowds of drunken fans arriving later.

Another officer, PC Brendan McInnes, has warned it could encourage ticketless fans to the area - one of the reasons for the riots at the Euro 2020 Final between England and Italy.

Police also pointed to the venue’s "long history" of breaching licensing conditions.

Over the past six years, the pub - around half a mile from Wembley Stadium - has been issued five warnings for breaking rules including overcrowding, not closing on a match day, and using the garden later than allowed.

PC McInnes said: “These games pose the greatest risk to public safety, crime and disorder. A venue with such a history of licensing breaches cannot be trusted to adhere to the conditions on its licence, especially on such high profile games, some of which will be internationally televised.

He added: “This poses a further risk where ticketless fans come to the area intent on seeing the games and then trying to cause fights with rival fans. A venue that has literally only just had its licence conditions renewed needs to have a long history of good behaviour with no licensing breaches before any relaxations can be made.”

Only last month, The Arch was successful in having some restrictions lifted, including allowing both home and away fans into the pub together for women’s matches only, but an attempt to remove the other two conditions was quashed.

During the previous application, the licence holder’s solicitor argued that most of the warnings were from many years ago and his client has complied with conditions for the past two years.