Councillors will decide today whether to grant a premises licence to the new Premier Inn set to come to Keswick.

Allerdale Council's licensing panel will meet today to decide whether to grant a premises licence for the 71-bedroom Premier Inn, set to be located on High Hill.

The proposal for a premises licence, from Whitbread Group which owns the Premier Inn brand, requests permission to show films indoors between 10am and half past midnight, Monday to Sunday.

It also requests permission to serve "late night refreshment" indoors, from 11pm to midnight, Monday to Sunday, and to sell alcohol both on and off the premises between 10am and half past midnight, Monday to Sunday.

Whitbread also proposes the sale of alcohol to hotel residents 24 hours a day.

Planning permission was granted in October last year by the Lake District National Park Authority for the conversion of the former Ravensfield Care Home in Keswick into a Premier Inn, after the plans attracted a great deal of criticism from a variety of quarters, including Keswick Town Council and Cumbria Tourism, which argued at the time that the particular offer the town provides to visitors derives from its abundance of independent businesses and lack of national chains.

However, this subsequent application for a premises licence has attracted much less in the way of objection, with only two representations made against the application.

One objection raised concerns over the request made for permission to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises, stating that the location of the soon-to-be hotel is in a "relatively quiet area of town in a mainly residential neighbourhood".

"The late hours suggested would encourage late night drinkers to migrate there as other pubs in the town closed at their earlier licence-allowed hours," the objector added.

The planning approval given to Whitbread late last year for its Keswick plans was warmly welcomed by the firm.

Senior acquisitions manager Kevin Murray said at the time it had long been the company's hope to secure a site in Keswick.

"All being well, we could be welcoming our first guests to the hotel in spring [or] summer 2022," he said.

"I can’t wait for the day the doors open."

He added that the proposed development "will bring a different style of accommodation to Keswick, increasing choice for visitors the town, and will help to support the local economy as Premier Inn customers go out to eat, drink and enjoy everything Keswick and the Lakes have to offer,” he said.