Owner of Huddle Lymington apologises for ‘mistakes’ which led to late noise and anti-social behaviour reports

A BAR owner has apologised to residents living near his premises for “having made mistakes” which had led to reports of anti-social behaviour and late noise nuisance by customers using the venue.

Nigel Blay, who runs Huddle in Lymington, was at a meeting of the town’s neighbourhood police team where it was highlighted that one “area of concern” from a previous session was the “noise issue” at the bar.

The venue, which launched earlier this year, is open until gone 1am at weekends.

Mr Blay told residents at the meeting that he had taken steps to clamp down on the reported problems, saying: “When Huddle opened, we were overwhelmed with how busy we were late at night, especially at weekends.

“We definitely made mistakes in our first few months.”

Mr Blay said the bar was now closing earlier than in the past and that there was an ‘over 21’ policy at weekends. He said security staff on the door had also been given training on how to ensure people left the venue quietly.

Anyone inebriated would not be allowed into Huddle, said Mr Blay, and customers who appeared drunk would be asked to leave.

“I feel it’s definitely improved,” he added. “I feel we have made huge improvements in the last months.”

Asked by one resident why he felt the need to “open so late”, Mr Blay said: “I’ve been a chef for 20 years in the town, and I think it’s good that people who work locally in hotels, bars and restaurants have somewhere to go when they finish work to relax.”

PCSO Callum Holt said the force was “worried” when Huddle opened because “we were getting reports of fights in the street and anti-social behaviour”.

“But its definitely declined, so I would say it is moving in the right direction,” he said.

Sgt Leigh Brown said the town’s licensing team had also visited the bar and “found no breach of the licence”.