CROWTHORNE’S rugby players will be allowed to drink into the evening after council bosses said yes to new plans at The Nest.

But bosses at Crowthorne Rugby Club have been told to stop serving alcohol at their Lower Broadmoor Road home by 9pm, instead of the 10pm cap they had originally asked for.

This means booze can be served on Saturdays and Sundays at the club’s premises from 1pm.

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Club representative Joe Pavitt explained why the application had been made at a council licensing meeting.

He said: “As part of our one, three and five-year plan to grow the club we felt that a premises licence would give us a number of opportunities.

“It is only for members and visitors from other teams to have access to alcohol on the premises.

“This allows us to raise further income to be able to put back into the club to extend the facilities and provide more capability to the wider community and build out the teams.”

Mr Pavitt said the Club had worked closely with a licensing expert to make sure members of the local community were content with the plan.

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He also said the Club would label cans to help identify them if they were found to have been discarded around Crowthorne, and that the applicants removed original proposals to include a permit for live and recorded music, too.

Despite this, one resident still lodged an objection to the plans on the grounds the permit would lead to safety issues and littering problems.

Although the objector did not attend the meeting, Mr Pavitt was instead quizzed by councillors judging the application.

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They raised concerns about the Club’s ability to regulate more than 60 people drinking at the premises and noise from the site disturbing neighbours.

Summing up the application, Mr Pavitt said the Club would be taking the new responsibility “extremely seriously.”

Following a private discussion about the plans, councillors agreed to grant the licence but with a condition that the serving of alcohol must stop at 9pm instead of 10pm.

They also told Mr Pavitt drinking should only take place within the premises and not outside.

Bracknell Forest Council’s licensing panel met on Thursday, November 19.