A new town-centre bar has won permission to open until the early hours – despite fears late-night drinkers will cause a nuisance as they leave.

La! in Margate’s High Street has secured approval to extend its closing time from 11pm every night to midnight in the week and 2.30am at weekends.

Thanet District Council’s (TDC) own parking team had objected to the plans, raising fears of revellers “urinating” behind cars or even “falling into them” as they spilled out of the LGBT venue.

But those concerns were branded “offensive” by one councillor, who said such scenes are more likely to unfold "outside the Wetherspoons in Ramsgate every Friday and Saturday night".

La! was founded after Sundowners - the longstanding LGBT bar in Albert Terrace - closed in October 2024 because of lease issues.

Iain Maxstead and Gareth Braithwaite - respectively director and manager of Proud Pink Inns, which ran Sundowners - applied to TDC earlier this year for a new licence, hoping to extend its opening times.

The authority’s licensing sub-committee met on April 9 to make the final call.

Representing the two men behind the bid, solicitor Jerome Dillon said: “They’re very experienced – Mr Maxstead ran premises in London, and all the time they were at Sundowners there were never any problems.”

He explained that the new high street premises goes across two floors – a restaurant and bar called Lafayette’s on the ground floor, and the lounge and bar, La!, on the floor below. Only the latter will be open until the early hours.

Mr Braithwaite told the committee: “It’s not a real late club, it’s a very different operation to what Sundowners was. Upstairs is very much a lounge, relaxed bar, and downstairs is somewhere to go later on if they choose to.”

He said the bar may host “occasional events down there, maybe a wedding or something, but it's not about being a major entertainment venue”.

Mr Maxstead also stressed that the bar already voluntarily has security staff at the establishment “not because it’s a licence requirement but because we believe in safety for our customers and our community, which is something we’ve always upheld – I’ve certainly done that in the last 38 years in the trade”.

The maximum proposed capacity for the venue is 60 people.

Mr Maxstead continued: “Our client base, in principle, is LGBTQIA members – the community locally.

“In general terms, our client base is local and respectful of the fact we have a limited number and they know if they aren't in the door by 10.30pm they aren't getting in, so they don’t bother trying.”

There were no objections submitted by neighbours or the public to the licence application.

However, TDCs parking team did object, because La! bosses want to continue using the bar’s back door – leading to the Market Street car park – as its main exit.

A parking officer explained: “Leaving that entrance, shuffling through vehicles or just intoxicated at night trying to navigate through the car park, gives us concern because you are leaving a premises straight onto TDC land, which we are responsible and liable for.

“It is the nighttime economy - people are going to be intoxicated.

“If there's going to be issues with people urinating behind cars or people falling into cars if they're intoxicated, they might damage a car. We don't want that to become an issue we have then got to deal with.”

However, chair of the committee Cllr Debra Owen-Hughes (Lab) said the suggestion that the clientele would cause that sort of trouble was “offensive”.

Mr Dillon also stressed “This is an exercise in what might happen - the committee really should be dealing with evidence of these problems if they’ve actually arisen, and so far they haven't.”

Cllr Owen-Hughes added: “People urinating everywhere or people intoxicated everywhere - you find that outside the Wetherspoons in Ramsgate every Friday and Saturday night.

“I think [Mr Maxstead] deserves some help and encouragement to bring business into this town.”

The sub-committee voted to approve the licensing application, subject to the approval of a change of planning conditions on the building.