A B&B and self-catering business in a scenic Herefordshire spot has been told it can serve alcohol and play music, despite claims this would “disturb the neighbourhood”.

James Taylor of the Agent’s House, Whitney-on-Wye, applied for a licence to serve alcohol at the luxury premises until 11pm each night and also to play recorded music until 11pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

“We have a balcony that guests can use as well as a large garden from which we would like to serve alcohol,” his application said.

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“We would like to offer a drink on arrival and a guest lounge area that will also give guests the opportunity to purchase alcohol.”

It added: “We will only be playing quiet background music to guests dining.”

As to how the business would meet the council’s licensing objectives, he said: “We will always be effectively making sure that our guests are not drunk and that noise is kept to a minimum.

“This is a luxury bed and breakfast and we will only serve alcohol to guests fitting to this.”

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But an unnamed resident complained that these activities “would disturb the relative peace and quiet of the neighbourhood” and that keeping them to within the property “may not be possible”.

This led to the application being passed to Herefordshire Council’s licensing subcommittee to rule on earlier this week.

Mr Taylor told the committee there were already several more significant sources of noise locally, adding: “The last thing we want to do is annoy our other guests by being too loud.”

“Although we’re not supposed to know who the anonymous party are, it wasn’t rocket science to work it out,” he added.

The committee approved his application subject to pre-agreed conditions covering monitoring, training, and enforcing proof of age, as well as prohibiting “adult entertainment, services or activities”.