Eccles sixth form college has been granted an alcohol licence so teachers can have boozy celebrations in the sports hall up to 10 times a year.

Local residents had initially feared that drinks could be purchased at the college and taken off the premises after a misprint on application papers.

But college bosses said security guards manning the college’s on-site zoo would make sure no alcohol was taken off the premises.

And they assured the town hall’s licensing panel that no students would be served alcohol.

The council’s panel approved the licence for Salford City College’s Eccles site yesterday - bringing it in line with the rest of the provider’s five premises across the city, which all already have alcohol licences.

A spokesperson from the further education college - which serves pupils from 16 to 19 years old - said that alcohol would not be served to any of the students.

Instead, it would be reserved for staff celebrations.

College staff realised they needed to update their licence for the Eccles site after hosting a summer fayre with a prosecco tent in the sixth form’s fields.

They wanted to bring its Eccles site in line with the licensing conditions in other locations around the city.

John Walls told yesterday’s Salford council meeting: “It’s a celebration - at the end of term, in the summer - we have a celebration for 10 years’ service, employee of the year, and at the end there’s glasses of wine given freely - that’s it.

“We do not sell, we will not sell any alcohol to students. Not on my life - we wouldn’t have students drinking. We’ve got a moral responsibility,” he said, adding that the college had experienced no trouble with its existing licences.

Mr Walls, estate manager at the college, originally asked for the licence to cover the whole site, but Salford councillors restricted it so that teachers can only drink in the college’s sports hall and on one section of the playing fields.

Conditions on the licence mean that alcohol can only be consumed on the premises 10 times a year, and the college has to notify locals ahead of any celebrations. It also must operate a ‘Challenge 25’ policy.

More than 30 objections were raised by local residents to the plans, the panel said - although these were not publicly available.

But 12 of these were withdrawn as they related to a misprint on the signs outside the college, which incorrectly stated that the licence was to be for on and off the premises.

Mr Walls said that an on-site zoo in Eccles - which holds over 50 ponies as well as alpaca, peacocks, geckos and pythons - is manned by security guards who could ensure that no alcohol would be taken off-site.

One member of a local residents’ association spoke out at the meeting against the licensing process, saying that locals had very little time to lodge their concerns.

The panel approved the licence, saying that the college is a ‘responsible’ provider.