Huge rise in Leeds pub noise complaints blamed on beer gardens - and 'less tolerant' neighbours

A total of 194 complaints linked to noise nuisance or anti-social behaviour were made to the city council about a licensed premises in 2022. Those figures cover all venues with an alcohol licence, such as pubs, bars, restaurants, nightclubs and shops. By comparison, 79 such complaints were made in 2020 and 104 in 2021.

But while Covid lockdowns have naturally skewed those numbers, the council has indicated last year’s figures were still higher than expected. A rise in the use of beer gardens, with the licensing system having been slightly relaxed for outdoor boozing, is thought to be one significant factor at play.

Speaking at a licensing committee meeting on Tuesday, council officer Sue Duckworth said: “We do believe that this is in direct correlation with the pandemic and people being less tolerant of noise in their neighbourhoods. This is probably because they’ve experienced two years of much reduced noise.

“Part of all this might be the increase in outside drinking since we had regulatory easing of off-sales. A lot of businesses are enjoying using their outside spaces and we feel we’re supporting them by allowing them to do that. But it does mean we have to deal with a higher than usual level of noise complaints, which our enforcement teams are dealing with.”

By law, any business wanting to sell alcohol has to obtain a licence from their local authority. To do so, they have to provide assurances that they will be good neighbours and will not cause disruption to their surrounding community. Typically most pubs will have to accept conditions which force them to limit late-night noise, which could for example include moving drinkers from a beer garden indoors at a certain time. Those that breach the conditions on their licence risk having it revoked.

A council report, which included the noise figures, said “illegal drinking dens” and lock-ins had triggered complaints as well. The meeting also heard about a rise in disorder at the city’s bars and pubs, with the behaviour of “entitled” drinkers said to be a factor.