Church converted into pub granted extended licence

A church that was converted into a pub can now serve alcohol and play music later at night after a new licence was granted.

Stephen Elliott, who runs The Chapel, in Cotford St Luke, near Taunton, was granted the licence despite concerns from locals about noise.

Ashleigh Cobden, who lives near the pub, lodged an objection saying: "Most Friday and Saturday nights, myself and my children are woken by drunk people coming out of the pub, shouting and kicking off outside of our house."

Mr Elliott told Somerset Council that they were "not customers of The Chapel".

"We’re quite well-known within the village, and we took over the pub with a view that we wanted to bring it back to being a village pub as the hub of Cotford St Luke," he added.

A new licence was granted, allowing the pub to serve alcohol until midnight on Thursdays and Fridays, 00:30 on Saturdays and 23:00 for the rest of the week, reported the Local Democracy Reporting Service.