A popular seaside pub has been banned from holding music events in its beer garden after neighbours in £1.5million mansions allegedly complained to the council.
The Lord Raglan, situated in the picturesque town of Emsworth, Hampshire, is known for its live music and sports screenings held outdoors during the summer months.
Up to 300 people packed out the pub during the Euros semi-final this summer, while families from nearby Portsmouth and further afield visit to enjoy their free gigs.
But now, pub landlords Victor and Naomi Tewkesbury, have been left devastated after being handed a ‘noise abatement notice’ from the local council, effectively banning them from hosting any events involving ‘speech, singing or music’ in their garden.
The couple also fear they could miss out on up to £60k a year in lost earnings from the ban.
Mr Tewkesbury told MailOnline: ‘It’s just really difficult to try and get your head around.
‘What have we actually done wrong to have this thrown at us? It feels like we’re being unfairly targeted.’
The Lord Raglan, in Emsworth, Hampshire, has been hit with a noise abatement notice after neighbours in £1.5million mansions allegedly complained to the council
Pub landlords Victor and Naomi Tewkesbury have told of their devastation as they appeal the decision which would see them lose ‘tens of thousands of pounds’ a year
Locals said the Lord Raglan’s pub garden is its ‘selling point’, with popular live music events held there during the summer months
The Tewkesburys feel they have been ‘unfairly targeted’ by the council, as they insist their events do not go on till late in the day, with noise kept to a minimum
It comes after Havant Borough Council claims neighbours have lodged complaints about noise levels.
The Tewkesburys however, insist they have not had any residents complain to them, and say music is always kept to an appropriate volume, with events brought to an end by 6pm.
Victor and Naomi, who are appealing the notice, said: ‘The council got in touch and simply said the pub has had a noise abatement order before, and you’re going to get one again.
‘It had a noise abatement order prior to when we took over because they used to have garden raves and things like that and that was just too much.
‘But we only hold day events with DJs playing vinyl, that kind of thing, which stops at 6pm.
‘It’s on a Saturday, once a month through the summer months, so three months.
‘And then we had our summer sessions, which all the pubs around her do, where he had a guy with a guitar. In total, it was six events across the summer.
‘The latest any of our music events have gone on is 9pm, and that was one time.
‘And we carry out noise limitation tests using a decibel meter.’
Asked whether they knew who the complainants were, Victor said they believed one of them to be the residents of a £1.5m new-build mansion next door.
However, it is unclear who in fact did lodge the complaint to the council.
A resident at one of the mansions confirmed to MailOnline that he did not lodge a complaint, saying he did not see the noise as a ‘major problem’.
The two contemporary mansions, which locals say ‘look out of place’, were built just metres away from the pub garden in 2021.
Planning permission was granted for the homes to be built in 2017, despite 175 objections received from locals at the time who said it would ruin the ‘special, historic character of Emsworth’.
Victor told MailOnline: ‘The council have been very very vague on the number of complainants, dates of complaints, and all that sort of thing.
‘But one of these big houses right next door to us, the guy who lives there came in for one of the songs sessions and he was in here drinking, having a good time.
‘I had a good chat with him, and I’d asked him, “Is it too loud?”
‘He said “No, a lot of the stuff you do is really nice”.
‘But then when I was out the back one day, the wife let slip that he’d complained about one of the events because he didn’t like the type of music being played.
‘I thought to myself, “you were in here enjoying it the other day”.’
A back view of the pub garden, next door to homes on either side. Victor believes one of the noise complaints came from one of the new-build homes
The pub landlords say they always try to be considerate with their noise levels when hosting events, and ensure they do not run on too late
A band playing at one of the pub’s outdoor events held during the summer
Speaking of the impact the ban will have on their business, Victor and Naomi said: ‘We only took over the pub in April 2023, and we picked it up out of a hole. It wasn’t in the best condition.
‘And then we got flooded in April this year and lost a lot of stuff. So it’s just been one thing after the other.
‘We can’t show football, which we did through the summer. Can’t have music, can’t have comedy shows.
‘It feels like we’ve just found our feet and started to make a success of it, and we’ve been kicked in the teeth.
‘It’s okay now, but next summer, it will sting.
‘We feel that a minority has completely overruled the majority. I would say 95 per cent of the neighbours come in here. They love the music.
‘There’s a lot of time and effort that goes into each event. And when people complain about it for what we think is not a very good reason, it’s just not very nice.’
Victor told of how important the revenue from their outdoor summer events is for carrying them through the rest of the year.
He said: ‘We’ll be losing tens of thousands as a result of this.
‘If the Women’s Euros is even half as busy as the men’s were this year, we’d be losing around £50-60,000 next year, easily, from not showing it.
‘Your summer pays your winter, and our garden is what is special here.’
A notice stuck up at the entrance and side of the pub informing customers of the petition
The couple say that the ban will really ‘sting’ next summer when they will not be able to hold their usual outdoor events
The new-build mansions can be seen towering over the pub and neighbouring red-brick houses in the area
The couple, who say they tried to reason with the council’s environment officer over how to solve the problem but to no avail, have started a petition against the notice.
It can only be signed inside the pub and has exceeded 400 signatures.
They also say they complained to the council over the environment officer’s conduct, alleging he was ‘rude’.
One neighbour, who lives directly next to the pub, said he was not at all disturbed by the music.
Michael De Waele, 62, said: ‘I literally live next door and the music does not bother me at all.
‘The day in question, I left the pub at 6pm, and the music went on until 9pm.
‘Between 6pm and 9pm I couldn’t hear anything from my house, unless I was in my kitchen with the window open. Then I could just about hear it.
‘I think it’s terrible they’ve banned them. Luckily, it’s come now as winter is coming, but it’s just unfair.
‘Another of my neighbours, he was in the pub garden that day, and I asked him, and he had no complaint.
‘None of my neighbours, and I get on with all of them, have a single complaint.
‘Even if I could hear it, and I couldn’t, I would have let it go. It’s a lot of people having fun, so why put a dampner on it? You’ve got to have a bit of a give and take. People are just too fussy.
‘It’s what, four or five times a year, for a few hours. Wouldn’t you just put up with it? It’s not exactly like it’s gone on so late it’s past your bedtime or anything like that.
‘It was only around once a month. I think it’s very unfair to be quite honest.’
However, another neighbour who lives a few doors down from the historic pub, but not in the £1.5 newbuild mansions, said the noise from the events was ‘intrusive’ and admitted he had made a complaint to the council.
He said: ‘I complained to the council about the noise and I’m glad it’s been cancelled.
‘It was just too noisy and they went on too late. And there would be people outside shouting all night. I could hear it from in my house.
‘It was loud and it went on late and it’s just intrusive.
‘I did try and go to the pub once to speak to them about it, but I got no response so I didn’t bother.’
Michael De Waele, a neighbour, says he cannot hear the music from his home, and thinks the noise abatement notice is ‘unfair’
The Tewkesburys worry the ban on garden events could see them lose up to 60k next year alone, adding that their ‘summers pay for their winter’
Some neighbours said they can hear the music until late at night, with one admitting that he had complained to the council over the noise
Another woman, who works in a home close to the pub, echoed the same concerns, saying: ‘Thank God they’ve been cancelled. It was quite a disturbance, the noise. It was really loud.
‘I work here full-time, and from my window it’s actually an absolute nightmare. It’s very noisy.
‘I always have to shut the window, and even then there are people that come around here and urinate around here. They’re jumping around and exposing themselves.
‘So, it can be bad after the events finish too.
‘Over the summer it felt like it was every Saturday, and they go on till 10pm.
‘I really was a nuisance during the summer.
‘It felt like we were in Hyde Park, that’s how loud it was.’
One of the residents of the two £1.5million new-build houses, however, said he didn’t have an issue with the events, and could ‘never hear them late at night’.
The man said: ‘I don’t have a major problem with it. It may be because I can’t really hear it from my side of the house.
‘But I can see that confining it to indoors is better. I support that.
‘It’s probably fair enough, they’ve probably shot themselves in the foot with the garden.
‘That said, I don’t think the events are bad at all. I never hear them late at night.’
Meanwhile, locals fans of the pub said living so close to it was always going to come with noise.
Jeff Saunders, 62, said: ‘The way I see it, it’s as simple as this. Why buy a house next door to a pub if you have an issue with noise?’
His wife Anne agreed, as she added: ‘It’s disgusting that the council have banned it. It’s awful, terrible, because it is known for its live music.
‘It’s not like they play music till silly o’clock.
‘We love that pub. If we can, we go. They’ve got some good quality acts.
‘Businesses have got to thrive, and it’s not fair to start saying you can’t do this and you can’t do that.
‘Pubs are dying out, aren’t they?
‘I just think it’s such a shame because that was their niche, that was their selling point. They are renowned for their live music, there were some brilliant music events there in the summer.’
Jeff and Anne Saunders, who live locally, are regulars at the pub and say it is ‘disgusting’ that the council have banned its live music events
Another pub landlord in Emsworth, Adi Wright-Sheen, who runs the Crown Inn, says the Lord Raglan’s garden events are what is ‘special about it’ and stripping it away is ‘unfair’
An overheard view of the pub and pub garden, which overlooks the dock, situated next door to the grey-roofed mansions
Another neighbour, who has a young child, said: ‘I don’t have a problem with it at all. They’re really quite considerate.
‘They’re usually done before the little one is even up. The summer events are quite nice and finish early.
‘We don’t personally have a problem with it, it’s not been a disturbance to us.’
Close by, another pub in Emsworth said they have been experiencing similar run-ins with the council and angry neighbours.
The pub landlord said: ‘We have the same here from the neighbours so I really do feel for them.
‘It was 6.15pm on a Bank Holiday weekend in August, the singer had stopped, and I had neighbours come around with their cameras, video recording and saying they’re going to report us.
‘Two weeks later I had a call from the environment officer.
‘With one of the neighbours, we had to call the police in. Constantly harassing me by message, up at the windows recording, and he was warned for harassment.
‘Now, in terms of the neighbours, I’m trying to kill them with kindness.
‘I’ve had to pay for extra security staff to stand at each entrance and exit to ensure everything is kept under control.’
Another pub landlord in the centre of Emsworth, Adi Wright-Sheen said: ‘For the Lord Raglan, their USP is the garden in the summer. That’s what is special about it.
‘And it’s incredible, just so good.
‘They’ve got brilliant events there in the summer.
‘You take that away from them and it’s unfair. It’s their livelihoods.
‘It’s down the road from me so that’s my local pub and I love it.
‘The way you have to see it is, it’s a handful of people complaining, we think anyway.
‘But you’ve got 400 people walking into the pub and signing the petition. It shows just what people living around here think about it.’
A council spokesperson said: ‘Havant Borough Council has received a number of complaints in relation to noise coming from the Lord Raglan’s garden during live music events.
‘Following the complaints, an officer from the council’s Environmental Health department visited the area during such an event to assess the level of noise.
‘The officer directly observed the sound from differing locations and concluded that the complaints were justified due to the effect the noise level would have on an average, reasonable person, as per the relevant legislation.
The officer could have served a Noise Abatement Notice immediately, but instead he contacted the business to discuss the issues. He then also wrote to the business, giving them seven days to suggest ways they could reduce the noise level from amplified music in their garden sufficiently enough to not cause further nuisance to residents.
‘Only when the business did not suggest any measures they could put in place to reduce the noise levels was a Noise Abatement Notice issued.
‘The notice does not prohibit music events at the pub but does require the business to take steps to abate the noise nuisance to residents.
‘The business has lodged an appeal against the notice with the magistrates’ court.’