A PLAN to operate a late night bar in Prestwich village at the site of the former Orange Tree pub has been put forward.

The team behind the Manchester Deansgate venue The Liquor Store have aspirations for a bar and restaurant called Prestwich Social Club at the Radius development, off Fairfax Road.

A licensing hearing at Bury Council heard from Brett Collier, one of the team behind the application, who said he wished to create an attractive venue open for breakfast and brunch and for cocktails and drinks later in the the evening.

He said: ” The operation will be very different to the previous tenants of the building.

“The business will trade from breakfast until late night hopefully with coffees, brunch and lunch during the day and leading through to dinner service, cocktails and a great meeting space in the evening.

“As a Prestwich resident I know what the issues were with the previous occupants of that building.

“They had late night DJs on, cheap late night drinks and they’re the type of things that we don’t want to do.

“We want a business which will appeal to a more affluent demographic of customer.”

Prestwich Social Club, run by TLS2 Bars Limited, plans to open from mid-morning until midnight Sunday to Thursday, with a 1am closing on Fridays and Saturdays.

PC Greg Scott from Greater Manchester Police said he had mediated with the applicant prior to the hearing and they had accepted his proposals for conditions on their licence.

He said should any issues with noise or other licensing issues arise he would deal with them and had no issues with the application as it stood..

The meeting heard from objectors to the plans, many of whom live in apartments in the Radius complex, which is part of the same building.

Among the concerns from the 10 interested parties who made objections to the application were litter and cleaning up late at night or early morning, tables outside premises, noise nuisance, smoking outside the premises, alcohol related anti-social behaviour, the hours of operation and people waiting for taxis.

Many of the objections focussed on the late weekend opening hours, with clients allowed to be on the premises until 1.30am and alcohol served until 1am.

Claims were made that residents in the nearby apartments would be disturbed by those leaving the bar.

A decision on the licensing application will be published by the council in due course.