A NOISY party at a restaurant in St Albans has led to a protest from local residents. Kashu, a modern European restaurant on Hatfield Road near the city centre, opened earlier in the year but it was a Saturday-night party in the week running up to Christ

A NOISY party at a restaurant in St Albans has led to a protest from local residents.

Kashu, a modern European restaurant on Hatfield Road near the city centre, opened earlier in the year but it was a Saturday-night party in the week running up to Christmas that caused the contention.

A Clifton Street resident who did not wish to be named said of the evening: "Music was blaring until 2am and it caused quite a lot of upset, especially among my elderly neighbours. Apparently St Albans District Council was inundated with calls over the next couple of days."

The marquee party on December 20, advertised as a "night of exotic beats and luscious tones" on the restaurant's website, was allowed to go ahead because Kashu applied for a temporary event notice. The terms of the notice state that any establishment can hold an event until whatever time they wish, as long as it is approved by the police.

Cllr Chris White, Chair of Culture, Tourism and Sport on Herts County Council, said of the rule which first came into place three years ago: "I think it's utterly unacceptable to make that amount of noise at such an unsocial hour and I'm not surprised that the local residents are upset. I strongly support their case and will stand up for them against this ridiculous licensing rule."

The council's noise team and environmental health officers attended the restaurant just before 10pm on the Saturday night and issued the owner with a warning. Following further complaints from neighbours, a second warning was given at 1am. A noise abatement notice was sent to the restaurant on Christmas Eve.

A council spokesperson said: "The notice prohibits any future noise nuisance. Out-of-hours officers will be deployed specifically to monitor any repeat occurrence and if it is found that the notice has failed to have been complied with, legal proceedings will be instigated and Kashu could face a substantial fine if convicted."

Gelsomino Picciuto, managing director of Kashu, said he was shocked by the amount of trouble the party caused. He added: "We only host late-night parties on the odd occasion and that's when we apply for a temporary event notice to cover those exceptional circumstances. We've been open for 150 days and 98 per cent of the time we have closed at 10:30pm as per usual. I can confirm that there are no events planned for next year until at least May.

He added: "Of course we apologise to our neighbours for any inconvenience caused and I would like to suggest that they come and join in the festivities on the rare occasion that we do have a party.