A controversial application for a licence to sell alcohol in a Chalkwell café has been approved.

Liz Carr, who runs the Saltwater Beach Café, applied for the licence on July 5 this year and had it approved following a licensing sub-committee meeting on Wednesday.

However, owing to opposition from 26 representatives, the original application was amended.

Now, alcohol can only be served between 12pm and 10pm - as opposed to the original timeframe of 9:30am and 10pm - and it must be served with a meal costing £5 or more.

After the amendments were made, a further 17 objections were withdrawn leaving only nine objections out of 91.

The application was approved by three councillors, David McGlone, Helen McDonald and Margaret Borton, as well as two licensing officers for the council.

But the approval was made only on the condition that alcohol is “ancillary to a substantial meal” - meaning that diners cannot buy alcohol without eating a decent size meal - and that the outside bins are not allowed to be used after 9pm.

Representing Ms Carr in the meeting was Paul West, who said: “It’s interesting that this application has not been objected by all the local authorities. They are all specialists in their fields, yet none of them have any objections whatsoever.”

“We are a café, we are not a bar. People do not generally stay in a café and drink all day.”

“My client will do all that she can to make sure her café does not impact on the lives of residents.”

Ms Carr added: “What we are looking to do is enhance the experience of the cafe rather than turn it into a drinking establishment.”

Press Officer for the Chalkwell Ward Residents Association, Jane Hendry, said: “We are glad that the committee has taken some of the residents’ concerns into account through the conditions they have imposed, and we also welcome the shorter hours during which alcohol is to be sold. Nevertheless, there will be disappointment that any sale of alcohol has been permitted in this residential road, and concerns about the precedent that this sets along this quieter stretch of the seafront.”