Shrewsbury church café in late-night licence bid
A Shrewsbury cafe which has been open for less than three months is applying for a late-night licence.
The Orchard Cafe on Town Walls is affiliated to Shrewsbury Cathedral and is currently open from 9am to 4pm.
Now the church wishes to open the cafe until midnight and sell alcohol from 10am until 6pm.
The matter will be discussed at Shropshire Council’s licensing committee meeting on Monday.
A spokesman for the Diocese of Shrewsbury said: “The diocese initially submitted a modest licensing application that would have allowed the Orchard Café to offer catering facilities along the lines of those provided by many similar establishments throughout the town.
“The initial application would have permitted wine and beers to have been served up until 10pm.
“After listening to the concerns of some residents, however, the diocese has since submitted a revised and, in our opinion, extremely reasonable application to offer the same services between the hours of 10am and 6pm. We hope and expect the council to approve this application.”
One local resident who does not agree with the scheme said: “There soon won’t be a street in Shrewsbury town centre without its late-night licensed venue”.
Dr Alan Shrank, who lives on Town Walls, added: “Even the quietest residential streets in our town centre have been slowly invaded by a spread of licensed premises open into the night.
“After only a couple of months as an attractive café, the church is now seeking to allow the sale of alcohol from 10am to 6pm."
