A popular Nantwich pub has had its licence amended after a committee ruled it was 'undermining the prevention of public nuisance objective' because of excessive noise.

Cheshire East's licensing sub-committee was asked by the council's environmental health department to review The Leopard's premises licence following noise complaints about Hunter's Hideout, a covered external drinking and dining area sited in the corner of The Leopard's land, close to neighbouring residential gardens.

Following last week's hearing, the London Road pub has now been told it must remove the speakers from the Hunter's Hideout immediately and no live or recorded music is to be played in any outdoor areas at any time.

The Leopard has been told it must remove the speakers from the Hunter's Hideout immediately and no live or recorded music is to be played in any outdoor areas at any time (The Leopard).

Any doors providing access from the pub to the garden must also remain closed from 8pm each evening.

The committee was shown a video to illustrate how the noise was impacting residents.

Environmental health officer Margaret Preston told the meeting: "When the Hunter's Hideout is in use there can be up to 60 people in a concentrated area, talking, shouting, singing, as well as music from the PA system that is used and the overspill of sound into Jackson Avenue is such that you couldn't hold a conversation in the adjacent house garden without shouting.

"In the professional opinion of my colleague, the sound levels audible can be considered a statutory nuisance."

She added: "The complaints first started with regard to this premises back in August 2023 and noise monitoring has been undertaken for us to be able to hear the impact of the noise within the complainant's property."

Neighbour, Jill Carey, said the council's planning, licensing and environmental health teams have multiple videos of disturbance she had endured over the past 18 months.

Mrs Carey said: "Those who suggest we should expect noise living next to a pub, we do agree.

Any doors providing access from The Leopard to the garden must also remain closed from 8pm each evening (The Leopard).

"However, when we purchased our property, there was not a 40ft licensed bar sitting 5cm from our fence line.

"We feel that our property has been devalued and our privacy violated over the past 18 months."

Anna Brakel, of Joules Brewery, said landlords Sam Rock and Gary Evans had been at The Leopard for more than 12 years.

"The Hunter's Hideout was previously an open decking," said Mrs Brakel.

"Sam and Gary shared that this area was used a lot more previously, when there was no cover over the area, and now that when it is in use, they have managers present.

"They can control the use of it, that they have it closed when there's no events on or it's not a peak period."

She added: "I would like to use this opportunity to try and reach out to environmental health and gain some communication with them and talk about mitigation measures, as opposed to the approach of completely removing the Hunter's Hideout from the premises licence."

The licensing meeting took place on Monday 21 October and the decision was published on the council's website on Thursday 24 October (The Leopard).

The committee was also told the Hunter's Hideout does not have planning permission and a retrospective application has been submitted but has not yet been determined.

That application is treated completely separately from any licensing matters.

The licensing meeting took place on Monday 21 October and the decision was published on the council's website on Thursday 24 October.

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