LATE night drinks CAN be served at a local night club when it reopens -- despite police opposition.

Council planners this week granted permission for the Mason Organisation to open until midnight Monday to Wednesday and until 2am Thursday to Saturday at its Hippodrome Nightspot in Leigh Road, Leigh, which closed last July.

And the longer opening hours have been welcomed by several nearby businesses. But Ian Liptrot, licensing officer for Greater Manchester Police said they were against the idea because the premises are situated in a residential area and would cause more inconvenience and noise.

He said he thought the licensing situation in Leigh had not changed since the licence was originally issued.

Police objected because when the current licence was issued the owners agreed not to apply for a special hours certificate.

But the borough environmental health chief Bob Saunders said he had no objections, providing permission was granted temporarily for one year to assess the situation.

Nasri Albarghouti, owner of Valentino's on Leigh Road, said he hoped the change would resuscitate a "dying area of the town centre".

He added: "While the Hippodrome was open we had no trouble from drunken customers."

Arrow taxis proprietors Barry Culshaw and Craig Donagher said: "A lot of money and time has been spent making the Hippodrome building really presentable, not the eyesore it has been for the last couple of years."

But local resident Simon Felce opposed the move for more hours.

He believes anti-social behaviour problems are getting worse in The Avenue/ Leigh Road area and said there had not been any change in circumstances to justify the longer hours.