A LICENCE has been granted to allow a recently approved village convenience store to sell alcohol.

Permission to redevelop Greaves Garages, on Garbutts Lane in Hutton Rudby, near Stokesley, was granted by Hambleton District Council last year.

The plans involve redeveloping the garage and car showroom by adding a grocery store, an ATM cash machine and small petrol station on the site’s carpark.

When the plans to redevelop the site were first proposed, the council’s planning department received 17 formal submissions of support for the plans from local residents and 26 formal objections. The concerns mostly centred around noise and light pollution late at night, as well as a potential increase in traffic on the village’s roads.

Hambleton District Council approved the plans, but restricted the proposed opening hours of 6am until 11pm to between 7am and 10pm.

The developer applied to the council’s licensing panel for a licence to sell alcohol from the store between 7am and 10pm every day. The application received an objection from a resident concerned that alcohol could be sold in a village where young people could congregate on an evening.

After considering the concerns, the panel decided it was unlikely young people would congregate outside the store and petrol station and were satisfied age checks would be carried out when selling alcohol and granted the licence.