A luxury spa resort has been given the go ahead to expand its licensed premises after agreeing to introduce an alcohol ban at a children’s playbarn and outside playground.

Whitekirk Hill bosses applied to extend its capacity for licensed events from 700 patrons to nearly 1,300 to allow it to host outside events and provide guests in its nine individual lodges with ‘private dining experiences’.

However, concerns were raised by the council’s licensing standards officer over plans which showed the children’s areas were within the new outdoor licensed space.

At a meeting of East Lothian Licensing Board yesterday, operators of the Whitekirk venue agreed to a motion excluding any alcohol from being consumed in the playbarn or play area.

It was revealed last week that the spa resort had faced having to suspend the sale of alcohol after it was discovered it was mistakenly operating without a licence after an occasional licence ran out.

Karen Harling, the board’s licensing officer, said the spa had been operating using occasional licences since opening four years ago.

Current board policy expects businesses to apply for a permanent premises licence within months rather than rely on occasional licences which cover two-week periods.

However Jim Wilkie, from Whitekirk Hill, told board members that delays to an application for a premises licence had been caused by a 30-month wait for a visit from the council’s buildings control team who require to issue a certificate as part of the process.

And he said the resort was seeking to recruit additional administration staff to help cover licensing requirements and share the workload involved.

The board unanimously approved the variation to the licence to expand capacity along with additional conditions excluding the play areas from it.