Owners of a rural tearoom believed to have featured in one of Charlotte Bronte’s most famous books have angered residents after applying for a late alcohol licence.

Residents living near The Balcony Tearoom, at Moor Lodge, Two Laws Road, near Stanbury, claim plans to serve alcohol at the site until midnight will create excessive noise and increase the risk of road accidents.

Keighley and Shipley Licensing Panel will decide on Friday whether the site, which is believed to have been the inspiration for Ferndean Manor in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre, can provide regulated entertainment and serve alcohol from 11am to midnight Monday to Friday, 10am to 2pm on Saturdays and 10am to midnight on Sundays.

Business owner Maxine Lodge, who opened the tearoom last December, said she wanted to expand the service to cater for visitors staying in the holiday lets, due to open on the site in February.

But critics say customers fear the plans could lead to accidents on the narrow road.

One resident of Lower Colne Road, who did not want to be named, said: “We believe that the location of the premises, just beyond an already dangerous blind bend and extremely sharp junction, and the increase in traffic that a licence premises would generate, would greatly increase the possibility of serious accidents.”

Miss Lodge said she needed the licence to enable her to serve evening meals and provide entertainment for holiday guests.

She said: “At the moment everything shuts at 5pm and there is no public transport in to Haworth, which is why we need a licence.

“It is never going to be a pub or club. I don’t expect we will have a bus load of people wanting to come up here from Keighley. It will just be people from the local area and people on holiday.”