A Norfolk pub punter has launched a campaign to defend it from a potential threat to its live music licence.
Terry Want has started a petition to protect the Red Lion pub in his home village of Coltishall, after he heard that complaints had been sent to Broadland District Council (BDC) about excessive noise during its Sunday afternoon live music sessions.
The petition has so far attracted almost 600 signatures, with a further 40 signatures recorded on a piece of paper inside the pub.
Mr Want said: “I live literally 75m from the front door of the pub. I got to hear about the complaints so I put a letter of support in.
“I also work shifts, so some afternoons when I’m lying in bed to go on a night shift, I can hear the music.
“Where we live in Coltishall, there’s always people cutting hedges, motorbikes roaring up the street, so I really can’t see there being a problem.”
Mr Want said the support his petition had received had been “beyond expectations”.
“I just think for anybody to take a pub on, emerging from out of the Covid period, is extremely brave and I think the local community should be behind any business,” he added.
The pub is run by Sarah Haines-Allen, who took on the lease in August 2020.
“All I’m asking for is [to have live music] between the hours of four and seven on Sunday afternoon, that’s all I’m asking for,” she said.
“It’s the only thing that’s paying the rent, because I’m not a food pub any more, I am the only wet-sale pub around, so I try to make a go of it just selling beer.
"Obviously Sunday afternoons are what make me by best income, to keep the pub going and pay the rent.”
A BDC spokesperson said: “The licence for the Red Lion remains unchanged and we have no plans to review the licence in terms of noise control. We have been investigating complaints of noise from live music and have been working with the Landlord to resolve the problem.”
They added, however: “The investigation is ongoing, and no decisions have been made yet as to possible enforcement.”
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