Night & Day: Couple threatened over noise complaint, court told

The venue has hosted shows from hundreds of performers, such as Elbow, Wet Leg and Frank Turner (above)

A couple who made a noise complaint against a neighbouring music venue received "very threatening" messages after filing it, a court has heard.

Rex Chesney told Manchester magistrates he and his partner moved out of their flat on Dale Street in the city after being threatened on social media about the complaint against Night & Day Cafe.

The venue's owners are appealing a council noise abatement notice.

A council official told the court they had "witnessed a nuisance" at the bar.

Night & Day Cafe has been part of Manchester's music scene since the early 1990s and has hosted a wide array of well-known bands as they rose to fame, including Elbow, Arctic Monkeys, Wet Leg and Kasabian.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said it was served with the council notice in November 2021, following a complaint from a neighbouring flat.

'Uninhabitable'

Speaking on the second day of the hearing, Mr Chesney told the court he and his partner moved out of the apartment in May because they felt "very uncomfortable" in Manchester and had received social media comments, which were "very threatening".

He said the media coverage of the case had "consumed" his partner, who had became a "recluse" and had lost weight because he was not eating.

He said the couple had been living in the same city centre area when they bought the flat, but he had not expected the music from the venue to "make water ripple in a cup by the bed" in the early hours.

He said the noise had made the bedrooms "uninhabitable" and though the couple had spent £21,000 on sound insulation, they still could not sleep due to the music during club nights.

He also said the previous owners of the apartment had a problem with the noise, as did other residents, but they were not willing to come forward publicly.

As the name suggests, the venue is a cafe bar during the day and hosts music shows and club nights in the evening

The court was told council officers visited the flat in November, during a club night at the venue, and said they could hear the high pitch vocals of a track being played.

Days later, the local authority issued a noise abatement notice which the venue appealed, arguing that turning the music down would kill the business.

Licensing officer Ben Moran said there had been no further noise complaints since the notice was served and He said the council did not want to close the venue and would not prosecute the owners immediately if the noise abatement notice was upheld.

However, he said the authority would not withdraw the notice because the venue had not taken any steps to address the noise nuisance.

"The notice is enforced because we've witnessed a nuisance," he said.

"There's potential for that to reoccur if the residents move back into the property which they should be able to live in."

The hearing will continue on 17 January.