A BEER garden and street food venue in Glasgow has been given permission to operate for a further two years.

Festival Village Merchant City will continue to welcome customers after Glasgow City Council gave the go-ahead to a recent planning application. 

Keasim Events Ltd asked to use the site, opposite Wilson Street, formally, to ensure the operation can continue this year and next year, even if all Covid-19 restrictions were scrapped.

Festival Village Merchant City was originally set up and opened over the summer of 2020 to support the hospitality industry by providing an outdoor space during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, in May 2020, planning permission to build a mixed-use development, including event spaces, restaurants and public houses, was granted for the site. 

However, the first phase of this covers only the land to the south, with development on the northern part of the site (where Festival Village Merchant City sits) to follow later.

Keasim Events Ltd applied to formalise their use of the northern part of the site to continue to operate in 2022 and 2023, and until building work begins. 

Planning bosses approved the plans. 

A statement in planning documents read: "Festival Village Merchant City contributes to the vitality and vibrancy of the Merchant City and the wider city centre through making positive use of what would otherwise be a vacant site.

"It delivers clear economic benefits as a result of employing around 75 staff across a range of functions (including bar and floor, security and domestic staff) as well as working with suppliers and traders who are local to Glasgow or otherwise based in Scotland (such as Glaswegin, West Brewery, Lost Orchards, Drygate, Nichols Dispense, Smugglers Spirits, Lothian supplies, Loop Recycling, Olleco, JB Foods, Campbell Prime Meats, Glasgow Fruit Market, Say Cheese and Butcher Boy)."