A RESTAURANT in Southbourne can continue operating after the council agreed to vary a planning condition.

The Grill Shack and Tiki Bar took over the premises at 201-203 Seabourne Road, previously the site of Quarters burger bar, last summer.

A condition on the 2005 restaurant 'use' permission attached to the site stated that it only applied for David William Wykes, due to "the special circumstances of this case".

However, officers regarded this as in the past. A report by council planning officer Richard Cable states: "The premises has a lawful A3 use and has been used as a restaurant. Therefore, there is no material change to the character of the area.

"Furthermore, the restriction to a named person is not regarded as being good practice and there appears to be no reasonable justification not to remove this condition."

The decision also removes the 5pm closing time restriction.

This was despite a letter of "concern" from Dorset Police design adviser John Green, who said the original permission was for a café, not a restaurant. He said: "Considering that a recent Google Maps street view shows the premises to be already greatly renovated and advertising itself as a cocktail bar, I suspect other changes have also been made that may be more than just a removal of conditions."