A CONTROVERSIAL village pub can keep trading, councillors ruled, after Greene King ousted the landlord.

Winchester City Council’s licensing committee met on Tuesday ,October 12, after complaints about the New Inn at Swanmore.

Residents were upset about raised voices in the garden and loud music.

Council environmental health officers checked the pub during the summer and agreed that it was too noisy.

As a result, councillors were asked to review the licence, and had the power to revoke it or reduce the opening hours if they wished.

They heard from Crawford Wright, one of six neighbours who wrote to the committee.

He said many more residents had complained about the noise, which could often be heard through double glazing.

He said: “This establishment appears to have been hijacked. It is no longer the village pub that it used to be, it is like a club, not for village people but outsiders.”

Jonathan Smith, solicitor for Greene King, said the landlord, who arrived in 2008, was to blame.

He said: “We thought we had a nice country pub that was trading quite nicely – clearly we didn’t.”

He added: “These premises are on our radar. We will make sure that when the new tenant goes in there they will act differently.”

The landlord, Simon Hawkins, was not at the meeting, but members head that the New Inn has been closed for several weeks.

Mr Smith said they served the landlord with a legal notice to leave the pub by noon on Monday, October 18.

Councillors decided to revoke Mr Hawkins’ position as ‘designated premises supervisor’ with immediate effect.

Members also said drinking in the garden and all music must stop at 11pm, and noise limits would be introduced.

However, they allowed the pub to stay open, and to sell alcohol until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

Mr Hawkins was unavailable for comment.