Bradford Council fears a flood of last-minute licensing renewals this year after revealing that only 14 of Bradford's 1,800 licensees have so far applied.

Under new legislation, applicants have until August to renew their licences and the authority would have expected hundreds by now.

The Council's four-strong licensing department says a last-minute rush could lead to backlog that would leave pubs and bars unlicensed and potentially out of business.

So far, Bradford's licensing team has handled just eight personal licence applications, five for off-licences and one for a club.

Not a single pub in the district has been processed so far.

Under the new legislation, all pubs, clubs, bars, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and takeaways have until August 6 to apply to transfer their existing licence, regardless of when their current licence expires, and whether or not they intend to vary their opening hours.

Businesses that don't apply within this period will lose their "grandfather rights" - this means that if they do not apply for their new licence in time, existing rights won't be automatically renewed.

Businesses without a new licence in August face prosecution if they continue to trade.

Bradford licensing officer Tracy McLuckie said her team had hoped to process hundreds of applications since taking over responsibility for them last month.

She said: "There is a lot of paperwork that goes out with these application packs and faced with that it is a bit daunting for people.

"But the longer this goes on the more stretched we will be in July when we expect the bulk of them to come in."

She said processing the new forms takes time: "Because this is new legislation we have to make sure we do it right, so there is a lot of checking as well, but as it gets nearer we will be contacting individuals where we have not received anything."

The Local Government Association (LGA) and the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services say Bradford isn't alone and that it is a national problem.

Councillor Bryony Rudkin, chairman of the LGA's safer communities board, said: "We are obviously keen to avoid a situation where there is a rush to get all these applications processed towards the end of this period.

"This would hold up the process and cause inconvenience to businesses.

"Many sections of the industry are unaware that they have to apply for new licences, and we would encourage licensees to get their applications in sooner rather than later."