A VILLAGE pub near Farndon has applied to extend its opening hours past midnight – and the neighbours don’t seem too happy about it.

The owners of the White Horse Inn in Churton are currently allowed to open from 11am until 11.20pm Monday to Saturday and between noon and 10.50pm on Sunday.

But they now want to tweak their licence so they can open from 9am until 12.30am Sunday to Thursday and 9am to 1am on Fridays and Saturdays.

The application is due to be considered by Cheshire West and Chester Council’s Licensing Act Sub-committee on September 3.

It has drawn a number of objections from residents, as well as Churton Parish Council, on the grounds of ‘public nuisance’ due to noise from people leaving the pub and late music.

Some claim that, in the past, noise from music and cars revving their engines and beeping horns has been so bad that they have had to retreat to the back of their homes to get some sleep.

The pub is now under new management and reopened in June this year.

The parish council said: “There are a number of residential properties in close proximity to the pub and while residents can probably tolerate such noise at weekends it is a very different matter Sunday to Thursday when they have work the following day.”

However, they also stressed they were “anxious to ensure that the pub remains commercially viable”.

Resident Stuart Mount, who lives directly opposite the pub, said: “Since their recent reopening I have had to experience on most days antisocial behaviour in the form of cars blasting their horns when leaving the pub late at night and patrons leaving the main door open when having a smoke outside the premises allowing the substantial noise of the music to blast into my house.

“I’ve had to resort to sleeping in the back of the house as a result of this disruptive noise however I’m still awoken by noise from the pub.”

Malcolm Sloane, who lives next door, said he was “extremely concerned” by the application to change the terms of the pub’s premises licence.

In his letter to the council, he wrote: “Churton is a small, quite rural village with a high proportion of retired residents (I am an Old Age Pensioner). Loud music and extended opening hours well beyond 11pm are completely incompatible with the character of the village and more what one would expect in a town or city centre.”

A third resident, Dr C Hayes, said: “The pub has been closed for some time and we are delighted that the village amenity has been rejuvenated and wish to support the new tenants, but the nuisance levels which are likely to be generated by such late night drinkers and music is not likely to be supported by the residents.”

And finally a Mrs L Spencer wrote in her submission to CWaC that she had experienced issues on previous occasions when the pub had been granted temporary permission to extent opening hours.

“The noise on these occasions has been so loud my children had to be taken from their bedrooms at the front of the house to the rear of the property in order to get some sleep.”