Retrospective plans for a café and ice cream parlour “like something you’d expect to see in a city” at a former Co-op store site in Pembroke have been approved.

Members of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee approved a recommendation to give the thumbs-up to a retrospective change of use of ground floor shops at the former Co-op site in Main Street, Pembroke.

The application, made by Pembroke Assets Ltd, was considered at the February 14 meeting of the committee.

Agent for Pembroke Assets Ltd, Gavin Curwen, said the applicants had mistakenly believed a previously granted application for the conversion of the existing retail premises to three shops and 10 holiday apartments covered the development of the café.

He told planners the latest application – in the town’s conservation area and just a stone’s throw from its medieval castle – was supported by Pembroke Town Council, adding there was no change in the building’s appearance or scale.

Local county councillor Aaron Carey said the business had been running as a café “for the best part of a year,” adding he was happy to support the recommendation for approval.

Pembroke Dock councillor Brian Hall said he was delighted to second Cllr Carey’s motion.

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Chair of the planning committee, Councillor Jacob Williams, said he had visited the café himself, remarking: “It’s not what I would’ve expected to see in Pembroke, it’s what I would expect to see in a city,” before conceding: “It fits in very well.”