WALLINGFORD'S first "micropub" will soon be opening after councillors granted it a licence.

Last year Richard Strange opened pop-up record shop Music Box at 1A Castle Street after leaving his previous Market Place record store in 2006.

That business has been thriving and now plans for a pub on the premises have been approved, despite reservations from some locals who fear pub goers will cause too much noise in the evening.

Rob McGregor, 26, and Sam Smith, 23, plan to open the bar called The Keep in the evening while the record shop continues running in the day.

South Oxfordshire District Councillors approved the premises licence on Thursday.

Mr Strange said: "I'm very pleased the licence has been granted.

"The record shop is ticking along nicely and we are gearing up for Record Store Day on April 16.

"Music Box is definitely here to stay in Wallingford - we are getting lots of support and are selling tickets for the Truck Festival."

Mr Strange said no opening date has yet been decided for the pub but it could be as early as May.

Mr Strange's daughter, mum-of-one Alice Strange, 21, is helping out in the record store.

She said: "We are planning to have a coffee bar in the record shop until the bar opens.

"We are specialising in vinyl and new artists like Adele, Sam Smith and Ed Sheeran are selling really well.

"We have just had a new bar built in the shop and people will be able to come in and have a coffee and listen to music over the next couple of months, before the pub opens.

"Young people don't just download music these days - they like to have music they can keep and they come in on their way home from school."

The pub has permission to open from Monday to Thursday from noon until 11pm and from noon until midnight on Friday and Saturday, while on Sunday the opening hours could be noon until 5pm.

Some residents, including those living nearby in Bear Lane, said the area was "inappropriate" for live music, films and the serving of alcohol.

Miss Strange said she did not think the bar would pose a problem as a music venue as "acoustic" music sets were being planned only once a month, which should not disturb residents.

Mr McGregor, 26, from North Moreton, near Didcot, said his mother Heather McGregor bought the freehold to 1A Castle Street last year.

He added: "It will run as a record shop in the day and a micropub in the evening - the pub should open in May."

The emergence of the pub plan has grown out of the town's pop-up shop scheme launched last year by independent retail expert Iain Nicholson.

He set up the town's first pop-up shop in High Street as a way of reducing the number of empty units.

Town mayor Lynda Atkins said: "I think the pub plan is an excellent idea - we haven't had a new pub or bar in Wallingford for quite a while.

"The pop-up shop scheme has worked very well so far - there are only two empty units at the moment - and that's why we have extended Mr Nicholson's contract to work with the town council for another year."