A new restaurant serving Vietnamese food is to open in Wirral, despite fears that it could turn into a noisy bar.

No Name Bar, based at 222 Liscard Road in Wallasey, was granted an alcohol licence by Wirral Council's Licensing Panel on Tuesday.

Permission was granted despite confusion about whether the premises will operate as a bar or a restaurant.

Hannah Le, No Name Bar's manager, told the panel that she wants to open the venue as a "family place", where people can drink alcohol with their food.

However, under questioning from Margaret O'Donnell, Wirral Council's licensing manager, Ms Le said people could come in and drink alcohol or coffee without food, adding that this would not be a problem.

But Ms O’Donnell said that would mean the premises was operating as a bar rather than a restaurant, something it did not have planning permission for.

The licensing manager added that someone could be served alcohol while they were waiting for a table, but not without having the intention of buying food.

Ms O'Donnell noted that this was the concern of local residents who had written to the council opposing No Name Bar’s plans, they worried that a bar would be opening close to where they live.

Although no one attended the meeting to speak on behalf of the objectors, concerns raised to Wirral Council before the meeting were in relation to noise and so-called ‘public nuisance’.

No Name Bar can host up to 50 people inside and 40 outside, which could exacerbate these fears.

The restaurant applied for a licence to sell alcohol from 8am-11pm seven days per week, with no provision for the outdoor area to close earlier.

Ultimately, the Licensing Panel chose to grant No Name Bar an alcohol licence, although Cllr Hodson reminded Ms Le that she had permission to operate a restaurant where alcohol was served with food, rather than on its own.

A separate application would have to be made to the council’s planning officers if she wanted to turn it into a bar.

The opening hours for the Vietnamese restaurant were slightly reduced to 9am-11pm on Monday to Saturday and 10am-10.30pm on Sundays.

No Name Bar must stop serving alcohol 30 minutes before closing time and the outdoor area must be shut by 9.30pm to help prevent late night noise.

Cllr Hodson made a final contribution, asking Ms Le if she had considered changing the name of the restaurant to avoid people thinking it was a bar instead.

However, Ms Le said she loved No Name Bar and did not want to change it.