Peterborough pub landlord fined hundreds of pounds following noise complaints

A Peterborough pub landlord has been fined hundreds of pounds after neighbouring residents said noise coming from the venue was making life ‘unbearable’

Dave Nightingale, licensee of The Woolpack Pub in Stanground was given an £800 fine – and ordered to pay £2,000 costs – for breaching a Noise Abatement Notice. The notice was issued to the pub after residents complained about external noise following the erection of a marquee in the beer garden where live events were held. The council said the business failed to comply with the notice which resulted in five breaches taking place.

After the noise abatement notice was issued, hundreds of people signed a petition in a bid to ‘save live music’ at the pub – and the amount of music nights at the venue was reduced.

Residents suffered sleepless nights

However, the council’s investigations continued, and a court hearing took place earlier his month.

The council said a combination of factors is assessed when investigating complaints, including how loud each event was, how regularly they were being held, their timing, duration and importantly their impact. Council officers were told by residents that their homes and gardens were made unbearable on a weekly basis.

The officers concluded that the venue was operating at excessively high levels of noise, causing harm and disturbance to neighbours who had sleepless nights and disturbance in their gardens.

Nightingale pleaded guilty and was sentenced on May 3. He was fined £800, and ordered to pay £2,000 costs and a further £80 victim surcharge.

“This level of noise was unacceptable”

Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Communication, Culture and Communities Steve Allen said: “Following a number of noise complaints and visits from the council who witnessed the breaches, a noise abatement notice was issued to the premises which is still in force.

“We take noise nuisance seriously and have a legal duty to act on noise complaints and to try to find ways to resolve the problem to everyone’s satisfaction - we are normally successful in this, but unfortunately in this case it was not possible. While we understand the pub is simply trying to make a living, our officers have concluded that this level of noise in a built up area was unacceptable.”