Wide-ranging plans to improve the facilities at the Brodick Bar and Brasserie on the Isle of Arran were given the nod by licensing chiefs despite concern about reports of under-age drinking and noise outside the premises.
The business applied for a variation of licence by re branding the premises and including televised sports and feature a service kitchen.
Owner Graeme McKinnon told North Ayrshire licensing board: “I would like to address the allegations of noise.
"We got monitoring equipment and went out to monitor and the loudest noise was a van at 65 decibels. We run a happy and tightly-controlled situation but face the same challenges as every other public house.
“My wife and I were very distressed about under-age drinking allegations because they are not based on fact that something we have to address and would be happy to look at independent scrutiny.
“We provide a happy and safe environment where women are safe and are very proud of what we achieve. I am always on the floor looking for spiked drinks and drugs.
"We monitor the door properly. On a few occasions only have the numbers exceeded 35.
“There were massive amounts of objections when we brought in a beer garden two years ago and there has been no obvious disruptions or complications from that. We planted conifers and built a fence to placate neighbours.”
Caroline Logan said she lived in the cottage attached to the premises and her front door was two metres from the entrance to the restaurant.
She said: “I have lived there for 30 years and had no cause for complaint about noise from the bar or restaurant until towards the end of last year with the introduction of regular weekend events in the bar area.
“The Saturday club vibe night is extremely noisy and the music is loud. The base permeates through the cottage which has very thick stone walls. It has a young clientele, there has been shouting on numerous occasions and not nice language.”
Glasses had been left on her kitchen window sill and people were smoking and drinking; drunken and anti-social behaviour was a problem, she added. However, during the week there were no issues.
Neighbour Terry Raeside, who lives across the road from the premises, said that loud music was playing in the bar on Fridays and Saturdays.
There were large gatherings on the street until 1am and beyond, he said, and it was so noisy his wife had to start sleeping in the spare room.
He said granting the licence would only exacerbate the problems.
Police confirmed there had been four complaints about noise coming from around the pub since September.
Mr McKinnon said he had gone to Ms Logan’s door and could not hear a noise coming from the pub.
His wife, Lily, added that she had taken photos of the glasses outside the pub and none of them were theirs.
Mr McKinnon insisted it was a well-run bar with a happy atmosphere and every night he asked people to have consideration for the neighbours.
It was agreed that the proposals were all granted but that if there were any further problems they could come back to the board.
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