A new bar is set to open in historic Salts Mill.

Managing Director Robin Silver was yesterday granted a provisional full licence to open the new venture - called the Salts Fish Bar - on the third floor of the mill building.

Speaking at a licensing application hearing at Bingley magistrates court, Mr Silver said there were two main reasons for opening the bar.

"The first is for people visiting Salts Mill as an alternative to the Salts Diner on the second floor, and it also can be used on occasions when public events are held," he said.

"It would be easier to have that available for people to have something to eat or drink during intermissions."

He said the bar would carry on the distinctive Salts Mill style and it is expected to open during the summer.

But Mr Silver said he would not be "chasing the World Cup crowd" and rushing to open the bar.

There were no objections to the application, and Mr Silver and his fellow licensees Nigel Kay and Jonathon Greenwood now have 12 months before they have to apply for a full licence.

The bar will seat up to 60 people.

The model village of Saltaire has been granted World Heritage Status, and is expected to become a magnet for even more tourists and visitors.

The community's founder Sir Titus Salt is widely known as a devotee of total abstinence. The image started when the founding father prohibited pubs from the village he had built for his mill workers.

Meanwhile, the following bars have been granted early licences for the World Cup: New Inn, Cross Roads, Keighley; The Old Glen House, Prod Lane, Shipley; Star Hotel, Leeds Road, Ilkley; The Angel Inn, Northgate, Baildon; The Fleece, Main Street, Bingley; The Royal Hotel, Main Road, Denholme.