THE spectre of loud music washing over the village of Winkton has been exorcised by Christchurch councillors.

Borough council licensing sub-committee members listened to villagers' concerns and told the managers of the Fisherman's Haunt Hotel that while they could have 24-hour drinking there was to be no music in the garden.

Committee chairman Cllr John Lofts granted the licence variations with conditions already agreed by the applicants George Gale & Co and hotel manager Gordon Ferguson.

They include limiting the total number of people, including staff, on the site at any one time to 250 and putting up signs asking customers to leave quietly.

Cllr Lofts said: "The second condition: no live or recorded music to be played in the garden. We have heard the concerns expressed by the nearby residents and have acted accordingly."

A third condition is that no marquee should be put up in the hotel car park, though one on a lawn is allowed.

The fourth condition is that doors and windows of the licensed or activity areas are to be closed at 11pm and are to remain closed except for access to and exiting from the building.

After hearing the result, resident Keith Cavill said: "We feel that's a fair balance of interests."

Gales' area manager David Heath had told the committee the company would expect all non-resident children to leave the premises by 11pm and, only in the case of an "event of great public interest such as a coronation", would they expect to have a crowd of 250.

"We have no intention of changing the format of the Fisherman's Haunt. It is a successful business. Extended hours do not necessarily mean more customers or drinking, just a more relaxed experience."

He added: "There has been a great deal of fear among residents that we are changing it into a discotheque. This is not true. It is a 17-bed hotel and that is exactly the way we wish to keep it. We do not do binge drinking, we do not do two-for-one offers, we do not do discotheques."

First published: September 6, 2005