A “CARS and coffee” venue has been given permission to serve alcohol.

Re:Fuel Southwest, which brings car and motorbike enthusiasts together over food and refreshments, applied for an alcohol and entertainment licence so it could open as a restaurant and host events in the evenings.

Mid Devon District Council’s licensing sub-committee waved through the request, meaning the venue at Five Bridges in Cullompton will now be able to serve alcoholic drinks and host live music.

The change will mean a big extension to its opening hours at some point. At present it opens from 8.30am to 5pm on weekdays and 9am to 5.30pm on weekends, with the occasional evening event or pop-up food night.

“Once we have our licence, we intend to work towards opening as a restaurant and for local community events in the evenings, meaning our opening hours will then run from 8.30am to midnight Monday to Friday and 9am to midnight on Saturday and Sunday,” the venue said in its application.

It had met with Devon and Cornwall Police before submitting the licence request about what conditions might be needed.

The council also said that the cafe may need to apply for permission to use its site as a restaurant, either through a document called a certificate of lawfulness or via planning permission. But it noted this was a separate issue to the granting of the alcohol licence.

Three residents objected to the licensing application, with fears including the venue being situated on a “very dangerous stretch of road”, and that anyone walking to or from it could not do so safely.

Another did not believe Re:Fuel had adequate toilets, and raised a concern that customers could urinate on his premises.

A third said the cafe itself did not cause a problem but that traffic and noise from events had been an issue, with “vehicles looping along the road and queuing to enter the car park”.

“There have been several accidents on this road, some of them fatal, and the venue is near a blind corner with poor visibility,” the resident added.

However, the council noted that road safety concerns were not relevant to deciding whether to grant alcohol and entertainment licences.

“The licensing officer is of the view that the applicant cannot control issues like the general use of the road, the speed at which people drive and the provision of lighting on a public highway,” it said.

“The public can attend the site and use this road regardless of whether or not the premises has a licence (as they have been).”

The council added that relevant concerns from residents related more to noise from the venue, potential anti-social behaviour, and increased litter.

However, the sub-committee voted in favour the application, believing that conditions linked to the approval could curtail or stop issues that objectors raised.

Bradley Gerrard