POLE dancers are set to be a feature in one of Newport's most historic buildings.

Newport councillors have agreed to allow the dancers to perform in a bar in the famous former Westgate Hotel.

The Baltica bar has applied for a change to its licence conditions to allow pole dancing, and Newport councillors sitting on the licensing committee have conditionally agreed to the request.

The Westgate was the scene of the 19th-century Chartist riot, when campaigners for parliamentary reform marched on the hotel, only to face a bloody resistance from the military.

The scene is immortalised in the mosaic mural across the subway linking John Frost Square with Austin Friars.

The Westgate ceased being a hotel in 2000, and a multi-million-pound modernisation promised to transform it into a prominent retail centre.

Terence O'Donovan is a member of St Mary's Church, next door to Baltica.

He said: "A number of our members are very unhappy about this on moral grounds, and we do not need more people coming into Newport creating more havoc."

Baltica said they did not want to comment about the issue until the matter was formally resolved.

A council spokeswoman said: "The considerations are being made with the interests of public safety, of performers, those attending and any users in the immediate vicinity being kept in mind."