Paul and Virginia Trickett from Christchurch vow to go ahead with floating restaurant off Mudeford Spit despite being denied alcohol and music licence

A couple planning to launch a floating restaurant off Mudeford Spit say they will push ahead with their venture despite being refused an alcohol and music licence.

Virginia and Paul Trickett from Christchurch had applied to be able to serve drink from 8am to 10.30pm and play music from 8am to 7pm.

Their restaurant, which Paul has spent months building in the couple’s garden, had caused outrage among beach hut owners at the spit who claimed it would lead to noise nuisance and pollution from drunk customers defecating over the side or urinating on the beach.

Despite an impassioned plea to BCP Council’s licensing sub-committee the Tricketts’ application was refused on the grounds that the restaurant was against three licensing objectives – preventing public nuisance, protecting public safety, and safeguarding children from harm.

But a furious Paul stormed: “Their arguments are feeble, none of them stack up. They claimed that us putting all the rubbish in bin bags and in a cupboard on board until we got back to our mooring was not adequate enough.

“I can’t see anything wrong with that, it is exactly how the beach hut owners deal with their rubbish, and there are 350 of them.”

The council were also concerned about child safety after Richard Slater, from the Beach House restaurant on the spit, told the meeting youngsters could get caught underneath the restaurant.

Paul said: “I found that argument ridiculous, there are dozens of boats moored there every day, and the pontoon for the ferry.

“I can’t remember a single incident involving a child going under those, so why would they suddenly start going under our place?

“There would not have been room for them to get under, not to mention that public safety is going to be our number one priority.”

Licensing officers were also worried about how a single toilet would cope with demand, but Paul said: “It has a cassette and that would have been changed if needed. The Beach House doesn’t have toilets; it relies on public ones used by all the beach goers and hut owners.

“But no one seems concerned about whether those can cope with demand.”

Claire Bath, deputy chair of the Mudeford Sandbanks Association, told the committee the restaurant would have a “significant impact” on the children of hut owners “who can currently play safely on the harbourside and go to sleep without disturbance from the commercial open air operation selling alcohol and playing music.”

But Paul said: “Just days after the licensing committee meeting the Beach House put a post on Facebook saying it was going to open later until 8-9pm. That will mean more noise from customers, and they sometimes have live music events.

“But seems the hutties don’t mind that. We were not going to be blasting out music, it was background.”

Paul said the couple are currently taking legal advice and may appeal the licensing committee’s decision.

He said: “We have had lots of public support; a lot of people are fed up with the hutties telling them what to do as if they own the place.

“If we appeal or not, we will be launching the restaurant and serving food. In fact, we are firing up the pizza oven tonight to test it out.

“We also have 50 temporary licences which means we can operate with alcohol using them. We are not giving up.”

A BCP Council spokesperson said: “Members of the licensing sub-committee have refused this application after careful consideration of the proposals, the views of residents, and the four licensing objectives.”