A ROW brewing over allegations of late-night noise and nuisance from a town centre pub and beer garden comes to a head at a special meeting of Christchurch council's licensing committee this week.

Continued objections from one nearby resident put a stumbling block in the way of the Thomas Tripp pub in Wick Lane when landlord John Lovell came to renew its public entertainment licence last month.

Now the licensing committee has convened a special meeting to hear complaints on May 19.

The hearing at the civic offices comes after near-neighbour and long-time pub noise protester Leonard Whitney declined to withdraw his objections to the renewal of the licence despite meetings with council officials earlier this year to reach a compromise.

Mr Whitney, whose Priory View Court home is within earshot of the popular and long-established pub, claims noise created by live music inside the building and punters in the beer garden has made life intolerable for himself and neighbours over the past five years since Mr Lovell installed an awning - later replaced with umbrellas - to allow the garden to be used all year round.

He said: "It takes little imagination to realise the impact this development, with live music and alcohol, has had on the neighbour-hood.

"In this day and age anti-social behaviour is not to be tolerated, and to me the issue of regular noise penetration into my home is anti-social."

But Mr Lovell said he had been "humbled" by the overwhelming support of the majority of his neighbours and was continuing to take steps including noise limiters, baffles and measures advised by acoustic experts to avoid causing problems.

"It is a lively pub, but I don't want to cause anyone a problem. I am not here to upset neighbours and I am doing everything I can," he said.

Dorset Police licensing inspector Dick Hudson said there had been six complaints in the past year over noise from the Thomas Tripp premises and he was not raising an objection to the renewal of the entertainment licence.

But council environmental health officers are pressing for a 9pm restriction on use of the beer garden to reduce night-time noise nuisance.

First published: May 16