A new taco restaurant and bar serving ‘finger-food’ is set to open in Wantage in place of a former hair salon.

The restaurant, which would be known as NAM Taco Bar, would operate out of the vacant property at 8 Newbury Street which was formerly occupied by Alexander’s Hair Studio.

Applicant James Bradshaw has submitted his plans for the change of use - as well as proposals to provide seating and bar and kitchen facilities - to Vale of White Horse District Council.

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The menu would feature tacos filled with options such as crispy peking mushrooms or meatballs and smoked pâté, as well as salads such as minced Thai larb and Dan-Dan slaw.

The drinks menu would include soft refreshments, beer and cider, wines, and cocktails including a ‘new fashioned’ – made with rum and curry leaf – and a ‘basilica’ gin and tonic.

The council’s licensing acts panel approved the opening hours of the restaurant – 8am to 11pm every day – and permitted the sale of alcohol from 8am to 10:30pm every day.

This was despite the objections of Mike Waring, who lives on the same street.

He raised concerns about ‘people standing around outside our property while waiting for take-aways’ as well as ‘an increase in the already large amount of delivery drivers parking on double yellow lines in Newbury Street and Church Street’ and the ‘extra cooking smells created.’

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He added he worried about ‘litter and empty glasses being left on our window’ and ‘people smoking and leaving cigarette butts outside our property’.

He also said that, although alcohol sale would end at 10.30pm, ‘those eating-in could, potentially, not leave until 11pm creating further noise and disturbance.”

In response, applicant Mr Bradshaw said: “Firstly, despite naming the restaurant a Taco Bar. It’s not at all a drinking bar. We’re aiming to do a tapas restaurant, though all the food is eaten as finger food.

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“On top of that, the branding of NAM taco restaurant, doesn’t sound as clean as NAM taco bar. In the same way tapas bar, is mostly used instead of tapas restaurant.

“For alcohol, we’ll be mostly wine as the alcohol of choice, and there’s no draft beer. Our closing time is 10:30 and last orders is at 10pm. As it’s primarily a restaurant so number are relatively thin by 9:30 even on the weekends.

“Effectively we’ll be running very similar to the two restaurants we’re sandwiched in between. And I’m not doing take aways so there won’t be any more people hanging around outside. We don’t have any extraction units being installed. We don’t have any deep frying.

“I’ve had four restaurants open in the past. All in residential areas. The businesses never received a single complaint to the police.”