THERE will be a “minimal” increase in crime and anti-social behaviour created by pop-up beach restaurant plans, according to Dorset Police.

Concerns have been raised by dozens of people living along the Bournemouth seafront that the council’s plans will lead to issues of disorder.

But speaking during a six-hour licensing committee meeting on Tuesday – the first of two this week – sergeant Gareth Gosling said dozens of conditions agreed with BCP Council would leave things “in very good stead”.

Tuesday’s meeting saw councillors approve two  new licences allowing restaurants to serve alcohol and events to be held at sites in East Cliff and near the Toft zig zag.

On Wednesday they will look at three applications to vary existing licences in place at West Cliff, Bournemouth Pier and Boscombe Pier.

The meetings were arranged in the face of dozens of objections to the proposals, which are part of plans to accommodate an expected influx in visitors to the area this summer.

The council said it was looking to “animate the seafront with stylish restaurants".

Members of the council’s licensing committee considered the two new applications on Tuesday but their decision will not be published until a formal decision notice is issued in the coming weeks.

Speaking at the licensing committee meeting, Peter Reichwald, who lives at Albany said there was a lack of a firm plan from the council and requested greater certainty.

“This blanket application, which covers things from films and plays through to a parade and circus, is what’s concerning residents,” he said. “The fact that it could be 365 days a year means we could, in theory, have the impact of an air festival almost throughout the year.”

Dorset Police had originally objected to the applications, echoing similar fears, but changed its position after 24 conditions to the licence were agreed with the council.

These include extra training for restaurant staff and limits of the number of people allowed on each site.

"We feel these will stand us in very good stead," police licensing sergeant Gareth Gosling said at Tuesday's meeting.

He added that it was expected the restaurants will lead to a "minimal" increase in crime and disorder but that it would be "closely monitored".

And committee members agreed unanimously to grant both licences, with the addition of a further condition limiting the number of events that can be held at each site to five per year.

Speaking after the meeting, its chairman councillor Judy Butt said she was “very pleased” with the decisions and said the pop-up restaurants would be a key part of the post-pandemic recovery.

"The extra condition will provide that greater certainty that residents were looking for and we can now look forward to a really great summer," she said.

The council has already put contracts for the sites out for tender, advertising most of them for use for "high quality" restaurants from mid-May through until late September.