Fareham’s new entertainment venue will be able to serve alcohol from 8am for breakfast meetings or overseas screenings.

At a recent meeting of Fareham Borough Council's licensing committee, the licence for Fareham Live - dictating operating times, activities and the serving of alcohol - was granted.

Fareham Live is the remodelled multi-million-pound entertainment centre that was formerly Ferneham Hall and will open on October 1.

The granted licence means the venue will be open Monday to Thursday 8am to 12.30am; Friday to Saturday 8am to 1.30am and Sunday from 8am to midnight.

Hot food and hot drinks can be served from Monday to Thursday 11pm to 12.30am, Friday and Saturday 11pm to 1.30am and 11pm to midnight on Sundays.

Alcohol can be served from 8am-midnight, Monday to Thursday, 8am to 1am Friday to Saturday and 8am to 11.30pm on Sundays.

Live and recorded music, performance of plays and dance, screening films, indoor sporting events, wrestling and boxing during opening times can take place inside the venue.

Ewen Macgregor at TLT Solicitors, representing venue operator Trafalgar UK Theatres, said the alcohol licence starting at 8am was in case there was a live streaming of a show from Australia or a breakfast meeting to serve Champagne.

The meeting heard from Palmerston Avenue resident, Michael Day, who feared that nearby alleyways could be used as toilets by drunken theatregoers. He said: “I have seen people urinating in the alley both adjacent to my house and the alley opposite.”

Cllr David Hamilton, speaking on behalf of two residents on his ward, unsuccessfully lobbied for alcohol to be served until 11pm and all activities to finish before midnight.

The panel said that they listened to the residents’ concerns over public nuisance and Fareham Live is “unlikely to attract a clientele that would engage in antisocial behaviour” with no concerns raised by police.

As a result of the meeting, the application was amended to withdraw ‘off-sales’ of alcohol that could be drunk elsewhere.

The brand-new arts and entertainment centre will consist of a large auditorium with seating for around 800, a second 300-seat  performance space, a new bar and cafe area, a dance studio and space for community groups and organisations.

Mr Macgregor said the modernised £16 million venue will create 16 full-time and 55 part-time jobs.