Neighbours warn of drunken revellers at Cotswolds village hall in middle of night

A decision is due next week on letting the bar serve booze until 12.30am

Neighbours living next to a Cotswolds village hall have warned of noisy drunken revellers in the middle of the night. The hall, in a village north-east of Yate, could soon allow alcohol to be sold until 12.30am on Friday and Saturday nights.

Hawkesbury Upton Village Hall, on the High Street, is applying to change its premises licence and sell alcohol later than the bar is currently allowed. A licensing hearing at South Gloucestershire Council could grant the extension to hours on Monday, January 8.

The village hall’s premises licence currently only allows alcohol to be sold until 11pm. But one unnamed resident living next to the venue says noise 'inevitably drags on' much later, and wrote to the council to object to the planned extension.

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The neighbour said: “While we accept and are happy to tolerate the existing noise and disturbance originating from the hall up to 11pm — which inevitably drags on until 12am or 12.30am, allowing for people leaving the premises — we are extremely concerned with the licence being extended to 12.30am.

“This will result in noise and disturbance taking place as late as 1.30am and longer, especially as another hour of alcohol consumption will inevitably lead to more disturbance. When events are taking place it’s often impossible to get to sleep in the rooms nearest the hall, especially in the summer when windows and doors are open.

“As part of the village, we’re happy to tolerate the existing inconvenience in the interests of the local community. However, we’ve very concerned that the proposed extension will have a significant impact on our property.”

Licensing hearings are usually made up of three councillors, who hear from people applying for licences as well as those objecting. Despite the objection from the neighbour, the hearing could still decide to grant the licence, which would allow the village hall to stay open later.