A TOWN centre pub is set to get a beer garden on its roof.

The Wicket Gate pub, in Chester-le-Street, wants to put the beer garden on its flat roof, so it can increase its floor space and create an extra 10 jobs.

Wetherspoon’s, which runs pub in Front Street, was granted planning permission for the scheme this week, despite objections from 29 people concerned about noise and nuisance by drunken clients.

Durham Police, which says there are existing problems with anti-social behaviour and urination in nearby alleyways, asked that the beer garden should not be used after 9pm in a bid to prevent further disruption to residents.

The roof garden will not be in use between 9pm and 9am and the pub has also been told not to play amplified music which can be heard from Front Street or Adelaide Street.

Derek Briggs, chairman of Chester-le-Street Central Residents’ Association, which had objected, said: “Residents living anywhere near will get no peace or have any quality of life in their own homes from this noise.

“These residents have been here for some as long as 50 years and are now elderly and want peace and quiet.”

The beer garden will have seating for 118 people and part of the roof will be covered with a canopy.

The company had also wanted to make the front windows of the pub bigger, creating sliding or folding doors, but those plans were dropped following an objection by the police.

The application was approved by a Durham County Council planning committee.