The bosses of an upmarket restaurant situated within a North Staffordshire golf club have been refused permission to extend their premises licence.

The owners of Lockside in Stockton Brook already have permission to serve alcohol from inside their venue and from an outside terrace, but wanted to have an additional bar inside a marquee which is connected to the building.

However, councillors at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council felt approving the extension to the licence would cause too much disruption for local residents.

The venue's bosses have hit back at the decision, saying they are disappointed they weren't given a chance to demonstrate how they could run it responsibly.

Brett Barlow, one of the directors of Lockside, said he was willing to work with residents to allay any concerns.

He said: "We are disappointed it's been rejected. We were willing to put things in place to mitigate against noise, and work with the residents.

"I feel if they had given us a chance we could all have worked together on it."

Director, Brett Barlow, said they were not given chance to work together with the council to come to a compromise (LDR).

He said it was particularly galling given the effort and investment that had gone into establishing the business, and the difficulties facing venues at the moment.

He said: "We have put a lot of hard work in and it is a tough market for the hospitality industry.

"We have tried our best to work with people. I would say 99% of the community are in support of us.

"We have got a situation where, whatever we do, some people are going to complain.

"I'm a local lad, and the last thing I wanted is to fall out with people. We've tried our hardest not to do that – we need the local residents to come in and support us.

"We have got people playing golf and the last thing they want to have is loud music playing all the time.

"They wouldn't be happy if we did that, and it's not what we want to do anyway."

Bosses even offered to operate the marquee without music, but this was also rejected (LDR).

He had offered to operate the marquee without any music, but due to the deregulation of licensing rules permission for music would automatically be in place if the alcohol licence was granted.

The council sub-committee said this was a risk they were unwilling to take, despite assurances from the applicant.

Mr Barlow said: "It's such a shame – but even now we want to work with local residents and we just need to reassess and think where we go from here.

"This could be a space we use for community events – but if we want to be a success we need the community to work with us.

"If we were given a chance to work with them we could have made it a success but right now we've got a space we can't use."

General manager Liam Trigg thinks the whole process has been an ordeal for staff, who felt like they were constantly being scrutinised.

He said: "It's taken it out on the team a little bit. Everyone is from around here, and they feel like there is always someone watching them or taking photos when they're going down the driveway."

In a letter announcing their decision, the council said: "The licensing sub-committee were sympathetic to the applicant's ambitions for the business.

"However, the sub-committee considered that the level of noise that would be generated from music playing within the marquee could result in unacceptable nuisance in the vicinity."

Concerns were raised regarding noise levels for local residents if the venue was allowed to play music in the marquee (LDR).

They said they were mindful that the license would come with approval for live and recorded music between 8am and 11pm on any day of the year if the premises were authorised to sell alcohol.

Their letter stated: "The sub-committee acknowledged the promises made on behalf of the applicant that they would self-limit the times which music would be played, but the sub-committee concluded that the resulting lack of control on potential nuisance to residents was unacceptable."

They said the marquee's structure offered barely any soundproofing, and with the proximity to neighbours and the rural setting it would cause an unacceptable nuisance for people living nearby.

The venue can appeal the decision, but must do so within three weeks of receiving the official notification.

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