A Norwich pub landlord has been asked to provide more information about how a restaurant and beer garden in the middle of the city centre would be run before councillors decide whether to give the bid the green light.

Norwich Evening News: The Murderers/Gardeners Arms, Timberhill, Norwich. Photo ; Steve AdamsThe Murderers/Gardeners Arms, Timberhill, Norwich. Photo ; Steve Adams (Image: Copyright Archant Norfolk 2016)

Phil Cutter, landlord of The Murderers, in Timberhill, had hoped his bid to create an al fresco dining area consisting of 10 tables and 30 chairs off Orford Hill, opposite Santander Bank would be given the seal of approval by Norwich City council on Monday.

Councillors heard Mr Cutter's plans to turn the area into a dining area which would be constantly staffed and rather than being an extension of the bar, would only be for pub customers who had ordered food.

Answering queries on how the dining area would be staffed, Mr Cutter said: "We are all going to learn things as we go along, we have put enough things in place.

"We don't know what problems we're going to encounter until it starts. It's something we know we can manage, two members of staff is more than more than we have at the moment."

Objecting to the application David Foskett, the manager of Moss and Leakey which is located opposite The Murderers, highlighted long standing grievances over the pub's current outdoor seating.

Raising concerns about how Mr Cutter would prevent people from straying out of the proposed seating area with drinks, Mr Foskett said: "It's a lie Mr Cutter to say that you ever do anything, this is a lie.

"[Customers from the pub] are still causing our business a nuisance. We watch people lean over the barriers taking a sip of their drinks.

"And to think that you're thinking of extending it 50 yards away from the pub, everything [Mr Cutter] talks about just comes off the top of his head," he said.

After more than two hours of discussions, councillors deferred making a decision until June 10, instead asking Mr Cutter to provide details on how the restaurant area would be staffed, run and designed.

After the meeting, Mr Cutter said: "I'm disappointed that [the decision] has been deferred but completely understand why."

Mr Foskett said: "Clearly the committee were concerned that there were some obvious omissions in how that area could be managed."