A FLEDGLING Lake District eatery has been handed permission to serve alcohol 12 hours a day. 

Berties Kitchen and Bar at Coniston has been open for food for six weeks and was backed by more than £80,000 in investment from bosses. 

South Lakeland District Council's licensing sub-committee on Monday approved an application for the site in Lake Road to serve alcohol between 11am and 11pm, seven days a week. 

The submission had been hit by opposition from Coniston Parish Council and a number of residents. 

Concerns were expressed over the potential for anti-social behaviour, litter, noise nuisance to nearby properties, and the dangers of people drinking near to a lake.

Colin Lord, co-owner of Berties, told councillors at Kendal Town Hall that eatery bosses had run a site – Harley's Bistro – in Grasmere for more than three years and never had a complaint made. 

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"A few of the objections [to Berties] that have been raised, personally, I think are a little bit loaded against us and are not giving us the chance to do the job properly," he said. 

Cllr Dave Webster asked Mr Lord about the numbers of people that the eatery could admit at any one time. 

Mr Lord said Berties seated 20 people outside and a maximum of 50 people inside – having tables for 33 but potentially having people standing at the bar. 

After the meeting, he rebuffed some of the concerns over the potential for increased litter.

"We keep the site clean," he said.

"If you go to Berties at any time, it will be pristine."

Stephen Emmett, who lives near to the site, expressed concern in his representation that drunken people might decide to swim in Coniston Water and drown. 

In a representation, a spokesman for Coniston Parish Council said Coniston's infrastructure did 'not support the development of an evening bar on the outskirts of the village'.

"It [the site] is surrounded by open countryside, but within a quarter of a mile of quiet residential housing," said the spokesman.

"Any noise would carry, this would be a public nuisance and be detrimental to continued enjoyment of the area."