A bid to sell alcohol in a historic former church has sparked objections from neighbours.

Residents in Ambrose Place, Worthing, fear late-night noise and disturbance if St Paul’s cultural centre gets an alcohol licence.

The application, to be discussed on Thursday, has been tabled by Lime Food Design, which runs the café inside the complex, which recently opened after a £1 million revamp.

It wants to sell alcohol from 10am to 11pm, Monday to Saturday, to cater for weddings, parties, corporate events, concerts and private dining.

Lime said patrons would be reminded to conduct themselves in an orderly manner.

But protesters said the application was worrying in an area which already had four bars.

One said: “The renovation of this building is a magnificent achievement and we like the idea of it being a community centre but this opens the possibility of noise and drunkenness.

The noise from the first event at the centre was very loud.”