NEWPORT'S newest pub is in trouble with the council before it even opens. The Walkabout sports and music bar is due to open at the Queen's Hotel, Bridge Street, on June 13, subject to licensing.

But Planning chiefs at Newport council voted yesterday to take enforcement action and prosecute the parent company, Regent Inns, for removing internal window shutters without their permission.

The company removed the shutters in order to install "acoustic glazing" which will reduce the noise heard from outside the Australian theme bar.

But Newport planners were concerned about their removal as they were original features of the hotel and taking them away would be detrimental to the character of what is a listed building.

Planning chiefs said yesterday an enforcement notice should be served on Regent Inns to replace the shutters and that they should be prosecuted.

A spokesman for the company said: "This decision (to remove the shutters) was undertaken to allow us to double-glaze the building to keep exterior sound levels down for the benefit of local residents.

"We thought we had resolved the issue, but obviously there are still concerns". Newport will be the third Walkabout in Wales after Cardiff and Swansea. Regent Inns has invested £2 million in the listed building and will re-open it as the 29-room Hotel@Walkabout.

The pub - which will boast two of the largest video projection screens in Newport - will open in time for rugby fans to watch Wales' matches against South Africa, the All Blacks, Canada and Fiji.

Football fans will also be able to watch the World Cup on the screens which are designed to make sure sports fans do not miss a single moment of any game - even in the toilet.

Thirteen smaller screens have been installed in the toilets and 22 widescreen television monitors are placed around the building.

The bar will also play host to live music several nights a week and DJs will keep customers dancing after the bands have finished.

The hotel area will also have a function room for private parties, business meetings.