Heswall is set to get a new Wetherspoons pub, after its licence was approved on Friday.

The JD Wetherspoon boozer will open at 1-5 The Mount in Heswall, after Wirral Council's Licensing Panel granted it a pass to serve alcohol in a meeting held at New Brighton's Floral Pavilion.

The pub chain had wanted to open until 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays, and until 00.30am for the rest of the week, but this was opposed by many in Heswall.

For instance, The Heswall Society, a residents' group with around 450 members, were not in favour.

Speaking in January, its planning officer Roger Lane said: "There are many residential properties very close by, and we believe from a protracted history of noise issues that this would affect them quite badly."

At Friday afternoon's meeting, the pub applied for shorter opening hours, between 9am and 11.30pm, with alcohol to be served until 11pm.

Margaret O'Donnell, Wirral Council's Licensing Manager, said a local resident sent in his objections to the plan and had concerns about anti-social behaviour and noise.

Nigel Connor, JD Wetherspoons' Head of Legal, said the hours the pub chain had applied for were shorter than the former Exchange Bar based at the same site.

Mr Connor added that 50 or 60 people will be employed at the new pub, either full-time or part-time.

He also said people should not be concerned about alcohol being served at 9am as it does not cause problems in other Wetherspoons pubs.

Cllr David Burgess-Joyce, who represents the Conservatives, noted current issues around anti-social behaviour in Heswall and asked the pub chain's representatives if this would give them something extra to address.

Ged Murphy, a general manager for the pub chain, said the company would put its best foot forward on this and that staff wear body cameras, something which has acted as a deterrent against such behaviour in other pubs.

Liberal Democrat councillor Dave Mitchell asked what the pub would do to prevent people from getting drunk and causing problems in the local community.

Mr Murphy said the pub chain has strong methods in place to prevent underage drinking and that managers were promoted through the company after lots of experience and knew how to deal with this problem.

His colleague Mr Connor spoke about the outdoor area of the pub, saying that looking at floor plans it appeared that around 80 to 100 people could drink or eat on the area's left hand side, with another 20-30 on the right hand side.

He felt that this was suitable for the area given that all outdoor areas of the premises must close by 9pm.