NEWPORT city centre is set to gain its fourth J D Wetherspoons bar and restaurant. The new outlet will be based in three converted retail units - creating an area of 13,000 sq ft - beneath the City Cinema on Bridge Street.

City planners refused the proposal, but the cinema building's owner - Newport Holdings plc - appealed to the Assembly and was given the go-ahead.

It expects the J D Wetherspoons operation to be open by late summer. The three-screen City Cinema, and the four occupied shops on the ground floor, will be unaffected by the new development.

Chairman of Newport Holdings, Bob Carlton-Porter, said: "This was a very important decision for us to win as it makes the entire Bridge Street leisure complex a lot more attractive.

"It also fits in nicely with adjacent developments such as the Australian-themed bar The Walkabout which is located just opposite."

Many Newport residents are sceptical about the idea of more pubs in the city centre but Ron Jones, chairman of Newport's planning committee, said: "It's very difficult for us to oppose planning applications like these because every time we do we get beaten on appeal."

At present, planning permission and entertainment licences, which affect late opening, are the only means by which the council can even attempt to influence Newport's licensed trade.

The main liquor licences, which are printed above the doors of pubs and bars, are granted by local magistrates who would resist any interference from the council. However, in July the law is likely to change and responsibility will pass to councils.

Fred Sweeting, chairman of the council's licensing committee, said: "At this point we may be able to exert more influence on the city's licensed trade."

No one from J D Wetherspoons was available to comment. Newport Holdings is a national company with a property portfolio approaching £170 million and net assets worth more than £40 million.

The company owns a number of sites around Newport and Cwmbran, including one in Cwmbran town centre which recently received planning permission to be developed into a nightclub and restaurant.

It has also recently acquired a majority interest in an £11 million leisure development on the edge of Swansea city centre at Salubrious Place. This will feature a 116-bed hotel, two restaurants and a 253-space car park.