A village pub will struggle to survive the winter if a decision to ban a festival is not overturned.

Nathan Todd, who runs the Royal Oak pub in Seaton, applied to Allerdale council to hold its second Oaktoberfest, a two-day event with real ale and live music in the pub's car park.

But following objections by Cumbria police and Allerdale's environmental health, Allerdale's licensing panel decided at a meeting on Friday to prohibit the event to prevent public nuisance.

Nathan said: "It's going to be hard for us to get through the winter without this event. At a moment when you start paying extra for gas and electrics you need to make sure you have enough money in the pot to see you through winter."

Objections to the event presented by police and environmental health officers said the area surrounding the pub is predominantly residential and complaints had been received by neighbours following last year's event.

But Nathan said noise monitoring readings recorded last year showed the noise never exceeded the permitted levels.

He said: "I'm quite upset about it. I was more than happy to make changes to the Temporary Event Notice (TEN), so the panel, environmental health and police could be happy for it to go ahead with more noise restrictions or restrictions on the type of music."
He is now considering appealing the panel's decision to the magistrates court.

Nathan said: "Everybody in the village seems to be upset by this decision, Oaktoberfest was one of the best things the village had ever seen."

The TEN application submitted was for the event to take place on September 29 and 30, with real ales, an outside pub and local bands and musicians playing for around four hours each day in the pub's car park.

The TEN specified music would only be allowed until 10pm on the first day and 9.30pm on the second day.

A spokesman for Allerdale council said: "The reason for the decision is the prevention of public nuisance. The panel considered that the proximity of residential areas to the premises subject to the TEN was such that the event would undermine the licensing objective concerning the prevention of public nuisance. This was supported by the complaints received following last year’s event, which was substantially the same as the proposal contained in the current application."