Huntingdonshire District Council has granted a licence for the owners of a petrol station to serve alcohol around the clock, despite objections from villagers.

Huntingdonshire District Council has granted a licence for the owners of a petrol station to serve alcohol around the clock, despite objections from villagers.

The council’s licensing sub-committee met last Monday (August 14) to discuss an application from Petrogas UK to allow the sale of alcohol from its service station in Spaldwick, on a site which sits adjacent to the A14.

The applicant said the licence would allow it to cater for both motorists using the A14 and villagers and added that the alcohol would be sold from a “shop-within-a-shop” which would allow for “maximum supervision of customers”.

The applicant added that the sale of alcohol would form part of wider convenience store setup, selling household items, toiletries, fresh and frozen foods.

The terms of the licence will allow the sale of alcohol seven days a week, with provision also made for the sale of hot food late night.

Objections to the licence application were received during the course of a public consultation, with concerns regarding noise raised by some in the village.

Michael Ager told the council: “I attended the public meetings regarding the opening of a new petrol station and believe the length of the licensing requested covers a wider time than was mentioned at the time and this I believe could introduce excessive noise and unwanted behaviour in the small hours of the morning.”

Lesley Williams told the council: “Application for a licence was not covered at the public meeting regarding this redevelopment. This village and drivers do not need to be able to buy and consume alcohol 24 hours a day.”

As part of the licensing permission, the station will also be permitted to serve late night refreshment - hot food and drink – between 11pm and 5am.

Plans for the redevelopment of the service station were approved in December last year, despite objections from Spaldwick Parish Council and dozens of residents of the village.

However, the applicant was granted permission by councillors to remove the HGV refuelling facility, and to expand the forecourt shop, including introducing new food outlets, customer parking and seating.

Although owned by Petrogas UK, the station will be run under the Applegreen brand. Garages in Chatteris and Littleport also run under the brand name.