Manbar loses appeal against sound complaint but will remain open

London gay bar Manbar has lost an appeal against a ruling over a sound complaint, but has said it will continue to stay open.

Manbar, which describes itself as “the iconic independent gay bar”, said before the hearing that it could be forced to close, as it geared up for a legal challenge following a licencing review, after one resident living above the premises complained.

Having lost its entertainment licence, the bar will now only play background music, as it can no longer host DJs, but owner Chris Amos says he intends to re-apply for the licence.

In a statement, Amos said: “The bar will be applying for it’s regulated entertainment licence again in the near future with all the stipulations possible to safeguard the venue without causing any noise nuisance. Hopefully the council will grant us back our licence! Also the government recently deregulated entertainment before 11pm each day so we will offering early evening entertainment and currently working out the schedule for this.”

The bar appealed after the council banned it from playing music until improvements were made, and continued to trade pending the case.

• Nov 29 2023

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