CASH-strapped AFC Bourne-mouth was just four minutes away from a possible £20,000 fine after breaching noise levels during one of its summer concerts, it has been revealed.

Club chairman Peter Phillips and co-licensee Hazel Hatch were summoned to appear before licensing chiefs to explain why they did not stick to the conditions of their public entertainment licence.

But the council's criticism of the club sparked anger from Cllr Stephen Clarke, who said the local authority should be encouraging and supporting the football club as it tries to overcome its financial problems.

A report by the council's environmental health officers claimed they experienced several problems during the three-day Party on the Pitch events from July 30 to August 1 and that there were 24 public complaints.

They said both licensees were difficult to get hold of, that noise levels crept up above acceptable limits and that sound engineers were unwilling to co-operate with officers.

A noise abatement notice was served on the Sunday and if the music had stayed at an unaccept-able level for another four minutes, the club could have been fined up to £20,000.

But Mr Phillips said: "From the public perspective it was a relatively successful event - 12,000 people turned up and all seemed to enjoy themselves.

"Nevertheless, it was our first attempt at concerts and it was a huge learning curve for us."

He said the club was "let down" by outside professionals who were brought in for their technical expertise.

"We accept the criticism, it was a steep learning curve for us and we will learn the lessons if we do concerts again next year," he added.

Cllr Anson Westbrook, chair of the licensing committee, said: "Personally, when I started reading this report, I was so disappointed that a football club which has got so much to give to the town was so uncooperative with officers who were trying to be helpful."

But Cllr Stephen Clarke said the report was too critical: "We're all wise after the event but this is a new company trying a new event, trying to generate cash.

"They have to be encouraged to generate money. We should quietly say to them 'We can't accept this next year, go away and get it right'. I don't think we should be putting a dampener on this."

First published: Sept 9