THE future of the £7million Silkworks leisure complex could be under threat with police poised to oppose more town centre pubs.
Plans for the Pickford Street development involve turning the site of Discount Giant into a complex including a number of bars and restaurants.
The proposals were approved by borough councillors last year but developers may now be forced into a major re-think.
So far one company has applied for an entertainments licence at the site - Chicago Rock Cafe - and more are expected to follow.
But police say Macclesfield already has its fair share of bars and late-night trouble and are against this latest application.
The move comes in the same week street drinking was outlawed in the town as fears grow about the increase in after-hours violence.
Police licensing officer Geoff Allen said: "We are experiencing problems of increasing crime figures related to pubs and clubs in the centre of Macclesfield. There are too many licensed premises in the town centre."
And he said future plans to open bars in that area would likely meet similar opposition.
"If we get any further applications in that area, we would have to look at stressing the same objections," he said.
Resident Rhona Marshall, 52, who lives in Tytherington, said she will also object to the application.
She said: "Enough is enough. I feel we are saturated in Macclesfield with licensed premises, and many people I have spoken to agree.
"People are afraid to walk the streets."
Councillor Janet Jackson added: "We've reached saturation point in the town, and we have got to make a stand on it."
But Coun John Goddard said it would be wrong to decline the application through fears of late-night trouble.
He said: "I can understand the police's problem. Everybody would like their job made easier. But I would hate to see a dull, lacklustre town centre."
Steve Dennis, director of Luminar Leisure Ltd who have successfully opened 65 Chicago Rock Cafes across the UK, said: "We are disappointed that the police feel that, due to existing late night problems in Macclesfield, they must oppose our application. We are unable to comment on these problems.
"They know that Chicago Rock Cafes are venues which generate little potential disturbance."
The council's Licensing Sub Committee is set to consider the Chicago Rock Cafe's application at the end of the month.
It was originally to be discussed at a meeting last week - but it was rescheduled to a later date to allow both the police and the applicant make representations about the issue.
Alderley-based Consolidated Property Group who are overseeing the whole development declined to comment on the situation.
