Weymouth pub set to reopen after court battle over noise

The Duke of Cornwall on St Edmund Street will reopen on Friday, May 17, with owners Jason Osborne and Michelle Tempest planning to "bring partying back" to the venue.

The couple purchased the pub in 2017 and ran it themselves until 2020, when tenants Martin Freed and Tina Hearns took over running of the venue.

Mr Freed and Miss Hearns, who ran the pub until earlier this year, were faced with a court battle after Dorset Council accepted a noise complaint against them.

READ MORE: Weymouth's Duke of Cornwall pub may lose licence due to complaint

Following an appeal, at Poole Magistrates Court the judge ruled in favour of the Duke of Cornwall - however restrictions on live music licensing were upheld.

Despite winning the appeal Mr Freed said the court battle had "tainted" his experience of running the pub and decided to hand the keys back to the owners.

The pub closed in February.

Now Miss Tempest and Mr Osborne are re-opening the pub and bringing live music back - complying with new restrictions.

Duke of Cornwall owners Michelle Tempest and Jason Osborne (Image: Michelle Tempest)

They have hired Geoff Mann and Vicky Cordell to become the new managers.

The couple have experience running pubs and are also keen darts players who hope to start a darts team at the venue.

Miss Tempest said: "I think the last tenants did a fantastic job at defending the cause.

"We have now had reduced music hours, but they are not radically reduced.

"They handed the keys back to us and said they could not make a living out of it.

"We have run it before and it was incredibly successful, we also run pubs across Cornwall, Dorset, Hampshire and London and most of those are doing ok.

"It is an iconic Weymouth pub, everyone seems to have a story about being there.

Owners Jason and Michelle opening the pub back in 2017

"People have stories about dancing on tables when they were young and a lot of them now come back in their retirement.

"This has always been a music pub."

The pub will initially be opening on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

To begin with, the two owners and two managers will run the pub, but Miss Tempest said she expects another full-time member of staff to be hired.

The Duke of Cornwall has been closed since February (Image: Google Maps)

She said: "I want to bring the old Duke back, we have put managers in charge.

"It is such a shame our old tenants didn't feel they could make it work.

"We want to bring the bar back swinging and thriving.

"We have some great music acts planned for the reopening."

The Duke of Cornwall will reopen on Friday, May 17, with vocalist Stevie P and then on Saturday, May 18, soul Diva Alexis will be performing.