THE opening hours of a popular Southampton micro-brewery have now been extended, despite concerns raised by a local councillor.

The Crafty Fox, on Portswood Road – which opened in August, can now serve punters until midnight on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, after city council planners gave the go-ahead.

However, when the original plans were approved last year, this late opening time was refused by the same committee, and instead the brewery was forced to close its doors at 11pm daily.

This was a point raised by Councillor Matthew Claisse, member for Portswood, who voiced issue that these alterations could create late night “noise and disturbance” for neighbouring residents.

He said: “The later closing hours would be excessive compared to other similar premises. Such long hours would lead to noise and disturbance to nearby residents, affecting their amenity.

“The outside seating would also allow drinking on the high street, block the pavement and risks anti social behaviour. This was why it was refused previously.”

But Southampton City Council’s planning committee disagreed, citing that the concerns raised were “not judged to have sufficient weight to justify a refusal of the application”.

They added: “On balance, it is not considered that the additional opening hour would result in a material change in the level of activity above the existing and, therefore, this impact on the character of the area and amenity of local residents would not be so great as to be harmful.

Nevertheless, plans to create an outside seating area were refused, as it was agreed that it would “cause an obstruction of the public highway and increase potential noise impact.”

The new opening hours agreed by the committee are 7am to 11pm from Monday to Wednesday, 7am to 12pm, Thursday to Saturday, and 9am to 11pm on Sundays and bank holidays.

As reported, pub owners argued that other nearby pubs and bars within the area, such as the Wild Lime, The Mitre, The Richmond Inn and the Gordon Arms, are allowed to trade until midnight on certain nights, and by restricting opening hours of their pub until 11pm would “represents a significant commercial disadvantage”.