Players can leave the venue after registration providing they are back in their allocated seats by 2.15pm (for a 2.30pm start). In keeping with the new regulations, players not in their seat at the start of the event will be able to play.
Should this read "will not"?
Since the change in legislation (think it was back in September 2007), you don"t have to be at your seat for the start of a tournament. Before then, you had to be there for the start, otherwise you couldn"t play. APAT rules used to say "will not" but were changed to "will" when the law changed.