A NEW micro pub is set to open its doors after planners approved the scheme despite objections from some local residents.

The former pet shop on The Wynd, Marske, east Cleveland, can now be converted into a pub after members of Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's regulatory committee approved the plan this morning (Thursday, January 28).

Several residents had written to the council to raise concerns about people standing outside smoking and drinking, the proliferation of pubs in the town and the possibility of anti-social behaviour.

Cllr John Lambert, the chairman of Saltburn, Marske and New Marske Parish Council, told members of the committee that the only concern the parish had was over the opening hours but accepted that was a licensing condition rather than a planning consideration.

Ward councillor and committee member Madge Moses said: "There's an awful lot of concern in Marske regarding this application. Are people going to be standing outside drinking and smoking? They aren't objecting to a micro pub, they are objecting to where it is going to be."

However, Cllr Stuart Smith supported the application, saying: "It will have no impact on the surrounding area and it will have no impact on other businesses."

And Independent councillor Steve Turner said his experience of drinking in the two micro pubs that have recently opened in Redcar is much different to that of a much larger pub.

Members voted in favour of the application.