Cheshire East has given the go-ahead for a new shop in Macclesfield to sell alcohol until midnight despite objections from the ward councillor and residents.

Samar Mahmood applied to the council for a premises licence to sell alcohol at the proposed new Premier shop on Park Lane from 7am to midnight.

The alcohol would be consumed off the premises.

Ward councillor Liz Braithwaite (Lab) spoke against the application at last week's hearing of the licensing sub-committee but was told her concerns relating to lack of parking and impact on residential amenity were planning matters rather than licensing.

She then asked the committee to limit the hours until the planning application was determined.

The planning application to convert the premises, which was previously the Last Orders pub, has been submitted to Cheshire East but has yet to be determined.

Objector Michael Barnett, told the meeting there were already shops in the area with late-night licences and 'the area is littered with broken glass and cans'.

But Tony Clark, representing the applicant, pointed out there had been no objections to the licence application from any of the authorities, including the police.

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He said being a Premier store, the shop would be stocked with a range of different goods.

"People don't just go into these kind of stores to buy alcohol. It's not an off- licence," said Mr Clark.

He added that objections such as those referring to broken glass and discarded cans couldn't be given any weight 'because the shop's not been open'.

The licensing sub-committee makes its decision in private, after the meeting has closed, and informs the relevant parties within five working days.

A decision notice says the licence was granted as applied for.

It also states: "There was no evidence that the grant of a licence would give rise to public nuisance or anti-social behaviour – assertions to that effect were speculative.

"Once premises were open, in the event that activity on the premises gave rise to anti-social behaviour or public nuisance, it was open to the objectors or any other members of the public, or the relevant public authorities, to apply for a review of the licence."

Cllr Braithwaite has objected to the planning application which, according to the council's website, is due to be determined by a planning officer under delegated authority and is still being considered.

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