Cricket club bosses were forced to plead their case for an alcohol licence for the second time following an “error” by county chiefs.

Representatives from Riding Mill Sports Club had requested that alcohol sales be allowed at the site seven days a week, promising it would help turn it into a “community asset”.

And the club stuck to its stance once again after Northumberland County Council’s admin foul-up meant it had to take a second round of questions over concerns about “noise, litter and drunken behaviour”.

“We’re looking for the best way to continue growing the club,” Peter Nitsch, the club’s chairman, told the county council’s Licensing Hearing.

“If we were successful and looked at the opening hours, it’s only going to be when a committee member is available to manage the bar.

“We’re not in a position to recruit a full-time bar manager unless we ever extend the premises to install a bar – at the moment it’s basically just going to be a fridge, possibly two.”

He added: “We want to learn to walk before we fly, hence we’ve only asked for a premises licence, rather than allowing consumption externally because that’s what we want to stamp out.”

According to a report for county councillors, bosses at the club had asked for permission to sell alcohol between noon-11pm, Monday to Thursday; noon-11.30pm on Fridays; 11am-11.30pm on Saturdays and 11am-10.30pm on Sundays.

At a previous hearing, held in September, concerns about the plans had been raised by families living nearby about the possible impact.

The latest meeting heard further complaints from Osbit, an engineering firm based near the cricket club, which claimed the hours were “excessive”.

Ivan Todd, the company’s financial director, added that plans to allow sales between noon-5pm during the week, during office hours, were one of his main objections.

A decision on the application is expected in the coming days. A spokesperson for Northumberland County Council said: “There has been a genuine administrative error in which an objection was not heard in this hearing and we apologise sincerely for this.

“In order to be fair and reasonable to everyone, we have reconvened a new hearing … so that all objections will be taken into consideration and this objector will have the opportunity to give verbal evidence."