A PUB has been ordered to pay out £4,500 after breaching an abatement notice following noise complaints.

The Hare and Hounds, in High Garrett, landed itself in hot water with Braintree Council after some residents lodged complaints over noise.

The popular pub saw business boom after reopening following lockdown.

During lockdown the pub converted its large garden to accommodate customers, increasing capacity from just 46 indoors to 300 both inside and out.

Special live music nights on Saturdays also proved a popular hit with pub-goers.

Michael Campbell, who took over the pub four years ago, has since been locked in an argument over noise with Braintree Council and nearby residents.

At one stage, it was feared the pub would be forced to close its garden area for three months.

Now the pub has been ordered to pay £2,500 in fines and £2,000 in costs after it admitted ten offences of failing to comply with a council abatement notice between May 8 and September 25 last year.

Cases against Mr Campbell were dismissed.

Braintree Council says changes to the pub’s premises licence have also been made.

A spokesman, said: “Following a number of noise complaints and visits from the council who witness the breaches, a noise abatement notice was issued to the premises which is still in force.

“We take noise nuisance seriously and while we always act on complaints and try to find ways to resolve the problem to everyone’s satisfaction, in this case it was not possible.

“The business failed to comply with the notice which resulted in 10 breaches taking place.”

They added: “We will continue to support residents by responding to inquiries, investigating reports and intervening where necessary.”

Mr Campbell says he is now looking forward to putting the drama behind him.

He said: “We had the licence review a few weeks ago and it went well, really well.

“We accepted there were breaches, in the opinion of other people, and they fined us £250 for each breach.

“I’m just glad we could get this over and done with. Now we can just crack on.

“I also want to thank everyone for their support through this.

“The amount of messages and letters sent during our licence review was absolutely fantastic.

“We have new neighbours and the new people are absolutely lovely, they’re wonderful.”

He added: “We’re just a small business trying to survive.

“We’re now going to be much more food-led and have just hired some cracking chefs.”