Shrewsbury bar is granted midnight alcohol licence despite objections

Former Shrewsbury Town goalkeeper Ben Smith and his wife Stephanie had applied for a licence to serve alcohol until 1am on Friday and Saturday at St Nicholas's Cafe, Bar & Spa.

But following objections from 13 residents living nearby, licensing chiefs were only prepared to grant the application if the shut-off time for sales was an hour earlier.

Eight of the residents, along with Mr and Mrs Smith, attended a meeting of Shropshire Council's licensing committee meeting yesterday at Shirehall where the application was debated.

The couple are currently allowed to sell alcohol from 11am to 11pm seven days a week but wanted to extend the cut-off point to midnight from Monday to Thursday and 1am on Friday and Saturday.

The meeting heard neither environmental health or police officers had raised any objections to later opening following investigative visits to the premises.

The committee was told there had been only one recorded complaint against the couple, in March this year, because of music being played too loud.

"That was an error of judgement and will never happen again," Mr Smith said. "We had a live band on and put them at the wrong end of the building.

"It has become apparent to us that people are coming into town later and adopting a more continental lifestyle.

"Our busiest time is between 10.30pm and 11pm, and people are so disappointed when we tell them they have to leave our beautiful building."

Residents said they had not reported complaints of noise and nuisance because they did not know who to inform.

John Burke, spokesman for Council House Court Residents Association, said the bar was "already a problem" due to noise and taxis blocking the road late at night.

"Granting an extension would make a problem into a major problem," he said.

"Musical nightlife is generally concentrated on the other side of town. We should not allow it to spread and ruin the peaceful existence of our residents here."

Shropshire councillor Andrew Bannerman, whose ward covers the town centre, said granting the application would set a "precedent" and allow other bar owners in the area to apply to extend their licences as well.

He said: "We should reject this idea, because I think the results would be extremely harmful."

The committee granted a licence allowing the couple to sell alcohol from 10am to midnight Monday to Saturday and from 10am to 11pm on Sunday, with the premises allowed to stay open until midnight Monday to Thursday and 12.30am on Friday and Saturday.

Live music can be played from 9am to midnight Monday to Thursday, and 9am to 12.30am on Friday and Saturday.

Mr and Mrs Smith opened their new business in the former church building in Castle Street last November and held an official launch party on Tuesday night where Ferne McCann, star of ITV2 reality show The Only Way Is Essex, was the star guest.