Neighbours complain about noise from pub during famous folk week

RESIDENTS who live next to a pub have complained about noise levels during a landmark music festival.

- by BRADLEY GERRARD Local Democracy Reporter

The annual Sidmouth Folk Festival, which has been going for more than 70 years, always attracts lots of people to the town

(Kyle Baker Photography)

The Anchor Inn is a venue for the Sidmouth Folk Festival, hosting a range of acts, but some of its neighbours have claimed the sound emerging from the pub during the event is too loud.

Sound experts from East Devon District Council conducted a host of tests during Folk Week and in their detailed 11-page report for a meeting of East Devon District Council’s licensing and enforcement committee on Wednesday, October 8, stated there was “no evidence” of excessively loud music, but have suggested a potential maximum level for music in the pub's beer garden.

The report adds that setting the 96 dB limit - measured one metre in front of a main stage speaker - should “strike a practical balance between enforcing appropriate noise controls and avoiding excessive restrictions on the premises”.

As part of their tests, the sound experts temporarily requested music levels of 92 dB, but said it “quickly became clear that this volume was insufficient for the needs of the event”.