COUNCILLORS voted to allow an annual street party to continue, despite concerns raised by some businesses.

Bradford Council’s District Licensing Panel held a licensing review of North Parade Festival in City Hall this morning.

There is currently an ongoing licence allowing the road to be closed off one day a year, with on street bars and live music.

This year’s event takes place this weekend - with the full street party and on-stage music on the Saturday, with acts inside the roads numerous bars on the Sunday.

But the owners of Threads, a clothing store on North Parade, had called for a review of that licence, saying the festival crowds “intimidated” their customers and staff.

Greys Nursing, based on North Parade for 30 years, had also raised concerns, saying staff had struggled to visit the premises to drop off time sheets during previous festivals.

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And the objectors also said vibrations from the music being played could damage buildings - including the former Al's Dime Bar, which is currently vacant and structurally unsound.

At yesterday’s meeting Ifty Ali from Threads told councillors that staff at F. C. Milnes, a business that sells hearing aids, had also raised concerns with him about loud music on the street during the event.

He said Threads, a store that sells designer clothes and has been on North Parade since 2009, had customers from as far as Newcastle and Manchester. Poor access to the store on the day of the festival and the crowds of "drunk" people outside the store put many customers off - he claimed.

Saturdays were the busiest day for the business, but that previous festivals have seen takings fall to 80 per cent lower than usual.

When asked if the business could not find a way to benefit from the thousands of extra people on the street, he said: "We've never gained customers from the street party. We sell branded clothes that are quite expensive, we don't get people coming in from the street party to buy items."

He suggested the event could be moved to a more suitable area like City Park.

Councillor Anne Hawksworth (Ind, Ilkley) replied: "Surely anything that makes people more aware of this area has to be a benefit?"

Organiser Gail Simkins said they tried to work with businesses, and that Threads had not directly raised any concerns. She added: "If we don't know about issues businesses have then we can't solve them."

She said the festival had been running since 2014, and the only issues organisers had to deal with were sunburn, asthma attacks and a woman who had become intoxicated on a neighbouring street.

As well as an outdoor stage on Saturday there would be 20 market stalls selling food and crafts as well as five outdoor bars.

She admitted that in previous years volunteers had been "thin on the ground" but that this year there would be around 30 volunteers ensuring the event went smoothly. There were also likely to be police present to offer support and assurance.

Members were told that the music would not be loud enough to cause noise concerns.

After a deliberation the committee voted to allow the festival to keep its licence unaltered, on the assurance that organisers would work to address any issues raised by the objectors.