Gareth Bale's golf-themed bar in Bristol approved

Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale did not attend the hearing on Thursday

Footballer Gareth Bale has won permission to open an indoor adventure golf centre in Bristol city centre despite more than 100 objections.

Councillors granted a premises licence for Par 59, which is due to open next to Lane7 in Harbourside in the autumn.

It comes after the Wales star's business venture scaled back its opening hours after police concerns.

Some residents said they were opposed to the bar due to concerns that it could lead to antisocial behaviour.

However, Bristol City Council's licensing sub-committee granted the application by True Swing Bristol, a company formed by the Wales captain and three business partners in January.

It ruled the venue, in Millennium Promenade, was primarily a golf-themed attraction, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. 

Mr Bale's business partners were present but he did not attend the meeting on Thursday.

The indoor adventure golf venue Par 59, is proposed to open next to Lane7, near to Millennium Square

True Swing Bristol's barrister, Roy Light, said: "One of the directors, who isn't here today, is a keen golfer, a well-known footballer and a non-drinker and he wanted to try to promote places where people could come where drinking wasn't the main thing when you went out for an evening."

Representations from the council's environmental health and pollution control were withdrawn before the meeting after conditions were agreed.

True Swing originally applied to open until 01:30 from Thursday to Saturday and 00:30 on other nights, with the bar closing 30 minutes earlier.

It agreed with the police to reduce this by an hour, and at the hearing it accepted a request from residents to treat Thursday as a week night rather than the weekend.

'Sitting around drinking'

Concerns were heard from Hotwells and Harbourside ward councillor Alex Hartley who told the panel the business was "not purely a golf entertainment space but another late-night drinking venue in an area which is already at saturation".

"This is a densely populated residential area with hundreds of flats. It is already suffering a very large amount of antisocial behaviour, and the opening of a new bar will increase this," he added.

Rosemary Heald, who lives at nearby Balmoral House, added: "The applicants' legal adviser has painted a picture of people having a jolly time playing golf but there are up to 250 people at the venue not on the golf course at any time because only 96 can potentially play at once.

"That is a lot fewer people playing golf than sitting around drinking and eating."

Announcing the decision, sub-committee chairman Steve Pearce said: "The applicants have clearly listened to and addressed the concerns of residents and the responsible authorities.

"In a mixed-use area this strikes a fair balance between the commercial aspirations of the applicant and the concerns raised by local residents."