The Greyhound pub in Tibenham victorious after council licensing review

Villagers who hoped to impose tough restrictions on events held at their local pub have been thwarted.

South Norfolk Council has issued a vote of confidence in the new management at the Greyhound in Tibenham during a license review today.

The meeting was called by locals after a long summer of loud outdoor events at the pub, from which they claimed they had “no respite”.

However, the new team at the pub insists the issues are “historical” and have been told by councillors business may continue as usual.

The dispute dates back to last summer when the Greyhound reopened under new management after undergoing an extensive refurbishment.

Locals quickly became vexed as the village pub rebranded to a sports and live music venue with events hosted from an outdoor soundstage on a weekly basis, including many involving tribute acts.

Colin Cownden, representing a group of 11 villagers, applied to South Norfolk Council for a review of the Greyhound’s premises license.

He said: “It came as quite a surprise when our rural village pub morphed into an outdoor music and sports venue.

“We were being disturbed every weekend and there was no respite. I started to dread the weekend approaching.”

Daryl Gaskill, the owner of the pub, said he fired his management staff after discovering the scale of events – hosted across two marquees and an outdoor soundstage.

Mr Gaskill, who is based in Nottingham, took over the running of the venue in October and says the issues have since been resolved.

He said: “These concerns do not reflect the current management and all of the problems are historical.

“The pub was taken in the wrong direction but that is not what I want – I have put my life on hold to fix this.

“This has been put to bed in the village. The events we host now are of a totally different nature to what was going on before.”

Mr Cownden asked South Norfolk Council to place much tougher restrictions on the business, including limits to the number of events it can hold.

However, the council simply requested the pub produce a noise management plan and turn its music off at midnight.

Mr Cownden added: “I am very grateful to Daryl for the improvements he has made but we are still worried the summer will take us back to square one.”