The Water Tower pub in Park Lane, Tilehurst, converted this year by Greene King from a Flaming Grill family restaurant into a Hive pub, has had outdoor work including a pergola, a reopened doorway and garden improvements.
The franchise applied to Reading Borough Council to sell alcohol until midnight and food and soft drinks until 12.30am on Fridays and Saturdays, and to use those same extended hours on bank holiday Sundays.
Three local women objected, citing noise and late-night traffic. Neighbour Yvonne Hayward told the meeting: "There are currently two active noise complaints regarding loud voices from this venue being investigated by the council."
She also warned: "Extending the hours will only worsen an unresolved, ongoing issue."
The council's licensing applications sub-committee granted the licence as applied for at a meeting on Thursday 3 September.
Councillor Saadia Saadat said: "Neither Thames Valley Police nor the council's licensing officers objected to it." She added: "We did impose strict conditions on them, the conditions are very tough to control noise, they have to put up signs."
Residents also feared parking problems after the pub's spaces fell from 30 to 26 during the upgrade, but the council's highways team did not object. A licence can be opposed on highway grounds only if those concerns directly connect to public safety or the prevention of public nuisance.
The decision was made by councillors Saadat, Paul Woodward and Amjad Tarar.
James Aldridge, Local Democracy Reporter
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