Lambeth residents fear street becoming a 'boozy strip' as seventh bar tries to open in old barber shop

South London residents fear their street is turning into a 'boozy strip' after a seventh bar wants to open on the road. Immortals Wine Bar wants to serve alcohol until midnight every day in a former barbers shop on Lewisham Way in New Cross 

But people living on the road say it is saturated with noisy drinking haunts and doesn't need any more. They claim they already have to step over people drinking and smoking on the pavement outside their homes and fear the problem will get worse if another bar is allowed to open. 

Speaking against the bar's application at a Lewisham Council licensing meeting on April 25, local resident Naomi Fraser said she and her neighbours were concerned about potential disruption from another drinking place opening up. 

She said: "This road already has six licensed premises on it, most of whom already have a late licence. It feels like yet again another business is going to come in… It's not really competition. It's saturating the area to be honest. 

"We're just really concerned about [it]. It runs the risk of this piece of area, because it is so close to other businesses of this kind, becoming a little bit of an antisocial strip of bars and pubs every single day. It's just really worrying." 

Another resident, Louise Derbyshire, said antisocial behaviour linked to bars in the area was preventing her and her neighbours from enjoying their homes in peace. She said: "Currently we have people in our pathway, smoking, drinking and this is going to be exacerbated. The current disruption is caused by other premises in the area and frequently I have to walk down my path with people sitting on both sides of it to get to my front door. 

"It's intimidating, it's uncomfortable, it's unsafe and it's not acceptable, trying to get keys out of your bag while [they're] sitting in the pathway. […] People like to relieve themselves by the bin area."

Andreusse Elliott, owner of Immortals Wine Bar, said he wanted to create a place where local students could come to work and relax and had no intention to run the venue like a nightclub.

He told the meeting: "A lot of the university students and college students that I know and see on a daily basis, I was trying to create somewhere they could come and literally use it as a workspace, alongside watching sports, drinking alcohol and a place where you can have gatherings. I'm not trying to open a nightclub."

While acknowledging some residents had objected, Mr Elliott said most locals he'd spoken to were supportive of his plans to bring the derelict property back into use. 

He said: "I thought maybe there would be more [objections]. The amount of people locally… passing along while I've been trying to refurbish this building, I've got such a good response from everyone wondering when I'm going to open, what's it going to be. As soon as I put the blue sign up, people coming, knocking on the door while I'm there, trying to enquire about when I'm going to open." 

Mr Elliott added that while Immortals would be the first bar he had ever run, the venue's manager and staff would all have experience in the industry. 

The area between Lewisham and New Cross near Goldsmiths University is a popular destination for drinkers. Lewisham Way is home to the Fat Walrus and Flower of Kent, while New Cross Road, which the street turns into, is home to the Amersham Arms, Marquis of Granby and Royal Albert. The Talbot and the Wickham Arms are also located just off Lewisham Way.

Lewisham Council will announce its decision on whether to let the bar open at a later date.