FEARS that extending licences to allow pop-up restaurants to be established on some of the busiest parts of Bournemouth’s beaches will create access issues have been dismissed.

Concerns were raised at the Wednesday meeting of BCP Council’s licensing committee that the move could worsen congestion on the seafront and issues of anti-social behaviour.

But council contracts manager Noel Oliver said previous shorter trial runs near Bournemouth Pier had not created any difficulties.

Having approved two new licences on Tuesday – one near the Tofts zig zag and the other in the East Cliff – the committee met again to consider extensions to those already in place.

These cover the West Cliff wedding area, the area around Bournemouth Pier and a site to the east of Boscombe Pier.

Council events manager Helen Wildman confirmed at the meeting that the previous contract for weddings to be hosted on the beach had expired and that this was not being retendered. She added that this position would be reviewed after the summer.

But the council is hoping to now extend the licence for the area, and those at Bournemouth and Boscombe piers, as part of its plans to host a series of pop-up restaurants for the expected influx of visitors this summer.

The changes include allowing the sale of alcohol, extending the time music can be played until 10pm and expanding the range of events that can be hosted.

Objections were lodged against the proposals, raising concerns these could lead to a repeat of scenes of disorder seen last year, prompting them to be considered by councillors on Tuesday.

Separate issues were raised by members of the licensing committee, particularly around the proposals for Bournemouth Pier.

“This is the busiest area of the beach and I’m quite concerned about it is being blocked off for use as a restaurant,” councillor Andy Hadley said. “It comes back to the congestion issue and whether this is the appropriate location”.

Council contracts manager Noel Oliver said the use of the site had already been trialled for shorter periods, including during the air festival, and had not lead to issues.

“It is a very highly-populated area but that is why we are looking to introduce catering because we do reach saturation in our restaurants with people queuing for hours for a portion of chips,” he said. “When we have had this site used in the past it has never caused us any issues with congestion nor access along the beach.”

In a bid to allay fears that had originally prompted Dorset Police to object to the changes, 24 conditions, including restrictions on the number of people on any site, had been agreed by the council.

When it approved the two new licences on Tuesday, the committee added a 25th, limiting the number of events that can take place each year.

A decision was reached by the committee on the proposed amending of the three other licences but it has yet to be made public.

Committee chairman councillor Judy Butt was unavailable to comment when contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.