A pub in Talke has won its battle to open an hour later. The Corner Pin on Chapel Street was bidding to extend their opening times from 11.30pm to 12.30pm every night and extend the sale of alcohol by one hour to midnight.

The application had been 'simplified' since it was made based on discussions with residents. This removed the live and recorded music from the application and proposed four conditions.

Four conditions were proposed by the applicant, Piers Warne the applicant's solicitor told Newcastle Borough Councils licensing committee: "Those four conditions were targeted to the representations that we received and deal with the issues that were raised."

The four conditions are a dispersal policy to 'ensure customers leave the area quickly and quietly; an external area management plan so customers 'do not cause undue disturbance to residents; provide residents with a phone number for the duty manager enabling them to contact the pub directly; and a complaints log which can be viewed by responsible authorities.

No representations were made by responsible authorities, however there was one noise complaint received in 2017 before the current licence holder took over.

Chris Johnston, the current operator of the premises took over the Corner Pin in August 2022 and opened the pub in September 2022 after investing £65,000. 

The committee heard that Mr Johnston is a 'very' experienced operator and has worked for nine years as a multisite operator but worked 'significantly' longer in the trade and currently operates six pubs in local villages.

Mr Warne told the committee that the pub had been closed since January 2022 nad had 'effectively reinstated a community pub'

He continued that this isn't about 'changing the nature of the pub' he said: "We're not looking to vary the licence effectively to trade at midnight every night, every day of the week. It is to allow for some flexibility for trading in community areas."

Chris Johnson said: "We are more than capable of controlling any issues with the neighbours and we are quite happy to work with them. It is a local pub and most of the people live around the pub"

The committee decided to grant the licence with the proposed conditions.