New restrictions have been placed on a central London pub after a man living nearby repeatedly complained about “faint giggles and murmuring” from customers preventing him falling asleep.
The Globe, opposite Baker Street station, was told it must make its manager’s phone number public to residents and close businesses and supervise patrons drinking outside following a hearing at Westminster council on Thursday.
The large 18th century pub will also have to produce a management plan for its outside area and a dispersal policy to ensure people leave the premises “quickly and quietly” as part of six new restrictions on its licence.
However, it avoided having its opening hours stripped back to 11pm from 12.30am.
It comes after a single resident living nearby made a flurry of complaints about noise outside the bar between midnight and 12.45am.
Michael Zelouf told the licensing committee: “Imagine you've just dozed off and you are woken up by a faint giggle.
“You dozed off again to be woken up by a murmur from a distant conversation. Would your adrenaline spike? Would you struggle to fall back asleep?
“That's what happens to me each time I'm forced to complain about the licensing after 12am. Each time rendering me unable to sleep before 1 or 2am. Is that acceptable?”
As evidence, he submitted a series of WhatsApp messages between himself and the manager.
In one dated March 27, 2024 and sent at one minute past midnight he says: “This is not ok. They are now screaming happy birthday.”
The manager replies: “Moving them as best we can and have told to be quiet.”
In a message dated Saturday April 6 at 11.54pm, he complains that doormen are not moving customers away or asking them to “respect the residents”.
The same complainant called a licensing review against The Globe in 2022 citing the excessive “pinging” of beer barrels when they were being transported to and from the premises.
It resulted in the pub agreeing not to accept deliveries before 7am.
Mr Zelouf’s latest application was supported by councillor Karen Scarborough.
She said: “We know it's a very busy pub. It's very popular...But the outside clearly is a problem and we have had, although they may not have made complaints, we have had complaints from residents at Portland Mansions to us [saying] it gets out of hand, it's too noisy.”
A legal spokesman for the Globe, which is owned by brewer Greene King, acknowledged that there were a handful of other residents who had supported the licensing review.
But he pointed out that council officers said that “no nuisance was detected” during multiple visits to the pub and the police had not raised any issues of antisocial behaviour.
“We say this is a good pub, doing good work that is well received....It does not undermine any of the licensing objectives...This is not a premises that merits a review,” he said.
He added: "Murmuring and occasional bouts of laughter, when did that become a nuisance? I don't accept, respectfully, that that can fairly be described as nuisance.
“There have been numerous visits from the noise team and a plethora of WhatsApp messages.
“What it ends up really boiling down to is that there is a loitering on the pavement space outside these premises late at night about which this individual complains.”
