HUNTINGDON S café society could be set to expand – if councillors think Chequers Walk is wide enough. Coffee-and-snacks shop Starbucks, which occupies one of the new units in Chequers Walk, wants to put tables and seating for 10 customers on the pavement

HUNTINGDON'S café society could be set to expand - if councillors think Chequers Walk is wide enough.

Coffee-and-snacks shop Starbucks, which occupies one of the new units in Chequers Walk, wants to put tables and seating for 10 customers on the pavement outside the front of the shop, leaving four metres width for passing pedestrians.

Huntingdonshire District Councillors will have to decide on Monday whether there is adequate space or the passageway is so narrow that the proposal should not be allowed because it is so heavily used as a pedestrian route.

There are already tables outside a rival coffee shop in Huntingdon High Street, and councillors have approved in principle tables outside The Tap Room in Bridge Street, St Ives - provided Cambridgeshire County Council introduces an order to regulate traffic using one of the loading bays.

If the Starbucks licence is granted, furniture must be removed when the café is closed, if there is an emergency or if a police or council officer says so, for example for roadworks to take place.

There have been no objections to the proposal from police or public, said HDC's licensing officer Greg Peck.