Bingley is to get a new nightclub after a licensing panel heard it could "inject a bit more life" into the town.

Rory Procter was today given permission to open a nightclub in an empty unit in Chapel Lane.

Mr Procter told the Bradford District Licensing Panel that he used to run the Queen's Head pub in Main Street, though he now worked as an estate agent.

He said: "I'm well aware of how hard it is to run a public house in this current climate.

"The reason why Bingley struggles so much at the moment is because there isn't a complete circuit."

He said people wanting a night out would not choose Bingley because there was not anywhere to go later in the evening, after the pubs had shut.

He said: "We are finding that a lot of our locals are going to neighbouring towns or further afield, to Leeds."

As a result, he said, he wanted to open an "upmarket" venue to make a night out in Bingley a more attractive prospect.

He said the club would measure 1,200 sq feet and would admit up to about 200 customers.

The application had attracted two objections - one from a nearby resident and one from ward Councillor David Heseltine (Con, Bingley).

Coun Heseltine's letter said: "The venue is in a block of buildings which include residential flats. There are also other residential flats within a very close proximity over the narrow road."

But at the meeting at Bradford City Hall, Mr Procter disputed this claim, saying no-one lived in the block of buildings where the club was planned.

He said the nearest residence was "30 metres down the road - it's a flat above a commercial shop".

The panel granted the licence, which will run from 5pm to 11pm Mondays to Wednesdays, 5pm to 2am on Thursdays, 3pm to 5am on Fridays, noon to 5am on Saturdays and noon to 11pm on Sundays.

Mr Procter said at first, he only intended to open on Friday and Saturday nights.

The panel placed eight conditions on the licence, including requirements to install CCTV, to put registered door staff on the door on Friday and Saturday nights, to challenge anyone who looked to be under 25 and to put up notices asking patrons to leave quietly.