A new craft beer taproom is coming to Watford after councillors gave the green light.

Mad Squirrel – which also has branches in St Albans and Berkhamsted – applied for a premises licence for a new site in King Street in the town centre.

The new location, inside a former restaurant, will serve their own brewed beers and pizzas in a bar area, while also functioning as a shop selling canned and bottled beers.

Mad Squirrel operates its own brewery near Hemel Hempstead, with the beer it produces then sold in its venues and other establishments.

Following a meeting of the council’s licensing sub-committee on Wednesday morning, Watford Borough Council has granted the business a licence to serve alcohol until 11.30pm.

However, two residents living above the site objected to the plans, with one telling the meeting that bringing more people to the corner would be "chaos" for traffic trying to move along King Street.

They also raised concerns that people already gather in the area outside other restaurants, making it difficult to access their flats.

There were also concerns about live music in the bar, which was included in the original application, but this was withdrawn ahead of the meeting. Licensing rules still allow businesses to play live and recorded music up until 11pm without a specific licence, but Mad Squirrel said it would not be a regular part of their business..

Greg Blesson, of Mad Squirrel, told the committee the business is aiming to work with residents to reduce disruption, while bringing something new to Watford.

He added that they are expecting to have fewer people in at peak times than the previous restaurant, while they would allow customers to buy sealed products to consume at home.

Mr Blesson said the business is more focused on attracting customers who are buying drinks from the shop to take home from the town centre, or those who want to drink more premium craft beer, rather than irresponsible drinkers.

The committee said that the applicant had worked to address the concerns of residents, and Councillor Amanda Grimston said it was a positive move that a local business would move into the space.

No opening date has yet been set for the new Mad Squirrel location.