STAFF at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum in Woodstock were celebrating yesterday after being granted a premises licence that will allow them to serve alcohol and stage plays, films and music.

Princess Anne opened the £3.2m military museum in the grounds of the Oxfordshire Museum in Park Street, in 2014.

Museum director Ursula Corcoran said West Oxfordshire District Council's licensing panel granted the application for the supply of alcohol, and the performance of occasional plays and films.

She said: "This is really good news – we can now sell drinks at special events we hold in the evenings.

"We want to show more films and we have been approached by drama groups who want to perform productions in the gardens based on the theme of the Great War.

"This licence will give us much more flexibility for the special events we want to hold."

The museum displays artefacts from the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry and the Queen's Own Oxfordshire Hussars.

It was built following years of fundraising by the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust.

The project to find a permanent home for the collections started in 2000 and building work began in 2012.

The premises licence gave permission for alcohol to be served from Monday to Friday from 10am to 11pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to midnight.

Plays can be performed Monday to Friday from 11am to 11pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 11am to midnight.

Films can be shown Monday to Sunday from 6.30pm to 9.30pm, and live and recorded music can be played Monday to Sunday from 10am to 11pm.