A new wine shop and cafe is set to open in a second popular tourist hotspot after being granted a licence by Cornwall Council.

Thomas Hanson of John’s Wines had applied for a licence to open a new shop in Fore Street, Fowey – the company already has businesses in St Ives.

The new premises will have a shop on the ground floor with a small cafe and delicatessen on the first floor.

Two objections to the application were received by the council raising concerns that the new business could increase anti-social behaviour.

Tim Caulfield said: “I object to the above application on the grounds that in my opinion further expansion of alcohol retailing in Fowey will exacerbate alcohol related crime and public nuisance and threatens children with harm.”

And Kathleen Leafe said: “I object strongly to yet another licensed premises in Fowey, this one occupying 25 Fore Street in Fowey. We already have Tarquin’s Gin and have so many other licensed restaurants and shops.

"Yet another will only result in more unruly behaviour and increase problems on our dangerously crowded and hazardous pavements and streets. Fowey does not need another place selling alcohol.”

Mr Hanson told Cornwall Council’s licensing committee that he and his business partners had extensive experience as licensees.

He said: “It seems to me that they (the objectors) don’t object to anything specific about our business, they simply don’t want to see any more licensed premises in the town.

“We obviously understand their concerns. We can’t control the behaviour of people in the town but we will uphold the terms of the licence and the licensing objectives.

“We are experienced licensed operators with more than 40 years’ experience, we have two licensed premises in St Ives which has a similar demographic to Fowey. We haven’t had any issues with those.”

Mr Hanson said that the shop would stock “high value, artisan produce” and added: “We don’t appeal to children or people who want to get drunk as quickly as possible.”

He said that it was aimed at people who want to purchase a gift of wine or a good quality bottle of wine to enjoy at home.

Mr Hanson added: “The building in Fore Street has been empty for some time and we feel we can provide a valued service in that space. From a personal perspective we have run our businesses in St Ives for a long time and we have been looking for another outlet for a while and Fowey seems like a perfect place.

“We are a long established family business and we think it will go really well in Fowey, there don’t seem to be any similar businesses in the town.”

The committee voted unanimously to grant the licence as applied for saying that while they noted the representations there was no evidence to support the claims.