A pub will open in a former Brighton cinema despite objections from residents and businesses.

Pub retail company Eldridge Pope was granted a licence at Brighton Magistrates' Court for the new venue, part of a major redevelopment at the former ABC cinema in East Street.

The new pub, to be called The Toad, is due to open early next year.

The company, which runs a chain of pubs, plans to invest £1 million in the project.

It will now apply to Brighton and Hove Council for a public entertainment licence permitting the pub to open until midnight.

Licensing magistrates heard The Toad will have space for up to 600 customers, a dance floor and a DJ providing entertainment four nights a week.

The plans include keeping the former cinema's cash desk area in the foyer.

But operations manager Paul Ransom denied the company had any future plans to turn the pub into a nightclub.

He said: "We are a bar providing entertainment up until 11pm. We are not a club. There is no intention to charge customers for entry.

"We would be offering something completely different to Brighton."

There were no objections by the police to the application provided the pub abideed by a number of conditions, including employing door staff.

The court heard neighbouring residents and businesses fear the size of the pub will cause an increase in late-night noise and disturbance.

Objections There were strong objections from Brighton and Hove Licensed Victuallers, the Return the Aquarium Terraces Group and East Street Traders and Residents' Association.

Resident Trevor Scoble, representing the Return the Aquarium Terraces Group, said he was concerned about queues building up outside the new venue and how police would cope with an increase in disorder and vandalism. He said local people were experiencing problems caused by violence, vandalism and vomit on a daily basis.

He said: "We are getting to the point when we feel we are becoming prisoners in our homes."

Doug MacLennan, owner of the adjacent Palace Hotel and chair of East Street Traders and Residents' Association, said: "The sheer size of this development will increase the problems in the area."

The pub will open on the ground floor of the Art Deco building. A casino, already given the go-ahead to operate on the first floor, will be run by Grosvenor Casinos, which currently runs businesses in Fourth Avenue, Hove, and Queen's Road, Brighton.