A PUB has been granted a public entertainment licence – despite opposition from a town council and police.Councillors sitting on Suffolk Coastal District Council's licensing and health committee last night granted the Black Horse pub in Leiston High Street a licence for six months with a list of string conditions.

A PUB has been granted a public entertainment licence - despite opposition from a town council and police.

Councillors sitting on Suffolk Coastal District Council's licensing and health committee last night granted the Black Horse pub in Leiston High Street a licence for six months with a list of string conditions.

Leiston Town Council had strongly opposed the application following problems a few years ago when the premises were under different management.

Police also objected to the application but they said the pub was currently being well run.

The town council stressed the objection had nothing to do with the competence of the landlord, the way the premises is run or even the events that would be held, and argued it was “a geographical issue that cannot be addressed in any way other than not to allow the Black Horse to have a PEL”.

It pointed out that the local crime and disorder partnership group “used to regularly spend much of their meetings dealing with the fallout from this venue in the days when it held a PEL”.

“Since this lapsed the difference in law and order issues in the town centre has been very noticeable and extremely welcome,” it said.

But applicant Paul Selby, commenting in a council report through his solicitor, Jeremy Woodcraft, pointed out that he had nothing to do with the previous management or the history of the premises.

He was “a man of considerable experience in the licence trade” and was “keen to use the public entertainment licence to attract an older more mature market”.