From the https://www.kentonline.co.uk By Louis Walker, 1 October 2025.

The Bohemian in Deal sees opening hours cut back after second licence review of 2025 following police callouts and excessive noise.

A pub has seen its opening hours slashed back after an “unprecedented” second licence review within months.

Residents living near The Bohemian in Deal reported music blaring outside its permitted hours, while a spate of police callouts sparked the hearing.

Neighbours have regularly complained of sleepless nights due to excessive noise and fights at the seafront boozer.

A first review took place in April, but it has again been scrutinised by Dover District Council (DDC) following a request by the authority’s environmental protection (EP) team after issues continued.

Licensing officials heard revellers were remaining in the pub’s garden until its closing time at 2am - which was allowed within its licence - but this was causing loud disturbances for neighbours.

The EP team deemed a secondary hearing necessary after receiving numerous further complaints from May 18 to July 31.

After several visits during this period, a second noise abatement notice was issued on July 25, with out-of-hours officers from the council witnessing amplified music past 1am on July 20 - breaching its licence by some two hours.

They added: “I have to say that this case is unprecedented in so much as we have never in the 31 years I have been doing this work had to call for two licensing reviews on a licensed premise.”

Nearby resident David Cordery, who earlier this year called for stronger sanctions against the pub, continued to raise concerns over the issues at The Bohemian.

Speaking at last week’s meeting of DDC’s licence sub-committee, he said: “We moved into our flat, knowing there’s a pub next door and to be able to sit outside one on a summer’s day is one of the positive features of living in Deal.

“But living next to The Bohemian has been a totally different reality; it’s been a nightmare and these repeated disturbances are something we’ve suffered for over 18 months.

“We spend the weekends wondering how bad it’s going to be, and when we take our dogs out, we have to push through crowds of people intoxicated on our doorstep.

“We believe there will be a fatality at that pub with the constant fighting that takes place.”

Kent Police had also raised concerns after an increased number of callouts to the premises during the past few months.

Between April 2024 and April 2025, five calls were made regarding incidents at The Bohemian.

Yet in the four months from April 20 this year to August 15, seven calls had been made, with police finding the frequency of incidents, namely fights, a cause for concern.

Two reports had also recently been registered of underage customers frequenting the premises.

Speaking at last week’s meeting, a member of the force’s licensing team said: “We don’t have that amount of calls to other premises across the district.

“If I start to see a pattern of that nature, had this second review not been called, this would be something I’d be looking to call as a review of crime and disorder because something needs to change.”

The committee was shown CCTV footage of a fight inside the pub in May, during which a chair was thrown.

Further clips taken by residents in flats near the premises and played at the meeting also showed people screaming, shouting and brawling in the road outside the pub.

But landlord Andrew Kenny, who has run the pub since 2018, said it could not always be proven that violence had originated from the venue - a point agreed by licensing officers.

Mr Kenny acknowledged things were changing at the pub, telling the committee: “We’ve gone through a process ourselves of trying to close the garden earlier and earlier, and it’s pushed a lot of the crowd out onto the street.

“It’s unprecedented what we’ve had to deal with this year.

“You’ll see from the clips [of violence] in Shore Street, there’s no evidence to suggest they are either coming from or going to The Bohemian.

“We run the pub as well as we can. I will say there’s an element of people coming into it [from elsewhere] late at night, which I don’t personally like and I’ve seen it happen over the last six months.”

The committee was also told further issues with the venue’s licence had been discovered.

Mr Kenny had been operating the pub under the knowledge it had permission for both on-sales and off-sales, which allowed customers to take alcohol off the premises.

However, it was revealed this activity was not permitted but had been due to an administrative error when the licence was issued, with punters never having permission to take alcohol off the site.

The committee decided to impose stricter conditions on The Bohemian’s licence.

The venue will now have to close completely at 11pm, with two door staff employed from 8pm at weekends until after closing and monitor the door, garden and inside of the pub.

A log book of incidents at the venue, including the garden, must be kept, and CCTV recordings must be maintained for 28 days and be available on request by the authorities.

A noise limiter is also set to be fitted at the premises following the noise abatement notice issued in July.

After the meeting, Mr Cordery said he was pleased with the outcome, adding: “This decision should finally put an end to the late-night disturbances we and our neighbours have endured for the past 18 months.”