A Wirral coffee shop will be allowed to sell alcohol, but must change its smoking plans, after a hearing today.

Brown Bear Coffee, at 45 Thingwall Road, Irby, which has not yet opened, will be allowed to serve booze between 9am and 10.30pm each day and will open between 7am and 11pm.

Shannon Johnston, the woman behind the plan, said the coffee shop will have an American theme, selling things such as pumpkin bread, bagels and burgers in the evening.

Ms Johnston insisted it will be primarily a coffee shop in the day with alcohol being more relevant in the evening.

She was clear that she did not want to open a “rowdy late night entertainment venue”, but a “pleasant upmarket experience”.

In the light of objections, Ms Johnston said the business wanted to be a valued member of the community.

A local resident said he was worried about the impact of alcohol and the plans for the back of the premises.

This included a smoking area, which he felt would lead to the smell of smoke, as well as disruption through noise and swearing, harming the residential properties at the back of the coffee shop.

Conservative councillor Andrew Hodson, one member of the three-councillor panel tasked with deciding whether to accept the application, said you cannot stop people from smoking out the front and asked the resident if he would have an issue with this.

The resident said he would not, but was even more concerned when he heard of plans to put a small number of tables and chairs in the back garden.

Ultimately, the application for an alcohol licence was approved, but the coffee shop must ditch its plan for a smoking area at the back of the premises.