Our lives are made hell by ‘nightmare’ neighbours – they make tonnes of noise and it’s going to get even worse
LOCALS living near a “nightmare” cricket club claim they’re constantly kept up by noise – and it’s about to get worse.
The residents allege the neighbouring club’s visitors booze all night, revving their cars while loud bass thumps from the venue and into nearby homes.
The locals claim they’ve also spotted the rowdy people urinating near their West Yorks houses, while leaving behind their empties and other trash.
And while those living near Caribbean Cricket Club in Leeds say they’ve had enough, the venue’s licence has just been extended into the early hours of the morning.
But the club argues the money brought in by its functions is poured straight back into the community and denies music has kept anybody awake in the last year.
Sharon Mancini, 63, is one of those living nearby – and says she’s struggling.
The grandmother told The Sun: “If I had known about the club I probably wouldn’t have moved in.
“The heavy bass music shakes the windows and when the bar closes, people come out making noise and revving up their cars.
“I feel sorry for my neighbours, who are elderly, it’s all a bit much for them.”
Sharon claimed the noise goes on “all day and all night”, adding: “There are a lot of children who go to school and when they have events on it can be hard to get them to settle at night.”
Neighbour Jane Butt said while she didn’t struggle as much as the likes of Sharon, she felt for others.
The 69-year-old said: “I’m lucky because I sleep like a log but I feel for my neighbours.
“They can’t have their windows open in the summer because of all the noise.”
In saying that, she’s weighed in on the licence being extended.
Jane said: “We’ve sort of accepted it for years because they could sell alcohol until 11pm – but extending it to 1.30am is just ridiculous.
“Just because they stop serving doesn’t mean everyone just goes straight home. They’ll be outside making noise until 3am.
“It’s not being a party pooper – there are young children and elderly people whose lives are being disrupted.
“If I was having a party in my back garden until the early hours of the morning, the police would be straight around telling me to pack up.
“Well, this club is virtually in all of our back gardens, and the council says it’s fine.”
The club, whose room can be hired for birthday parties and wedding bashes, had permission to sell booze until 11pm from Sunday to Friday and to midnight on Saturdays.
But, despite complaints from locals, Leeds City Council bosses agreed to extend the club’s alcohol licence to 1.30am on weekends.
If I had known about the club I probably wouldn’t have moved in.
Sharon Mancini
Club secretary Reginald Hamilton told councillors that although residents had a “right to complain”, the club had not held a late-night event since June last year.
He said the venue and its members could not be the source of recent complaints.
One complaint lodged with council read: “When they first started the cricket club, they only had a small pavilion which was perfect.
“Now they basically want a nightclub. I am personally tired and fed up with all the loud music with cars revving their engines and sounding their horns all the time.
“I can’t even sit in peace in my garden because of the noise and granting this licence will only make things worse.
“It is the worst idea I have seen.”
Mr Hamilton, the club secretary, told a licensing hearing the application was needed to support community cricket and described the club, which was founded in 1948, as an “asset to the local community”.
He told the room: “We are not funded by any other organisation.
“Whatever we’re doing, we’re doing it to enhance the community and to generate funds so that our junior teams can play cricket and so we can play cricket.”
And not all neighbours were in opposition.
Nkosi Dube, 37, said he had no problems with the booze extension, despite his home backing onto the club.
The dad-of-two said: “I’ve lived here since 2017 and we haven’t heard anything that has affected us.
“It’s alright – we just close the windows. It’s not so bad that we would complain but I don’t know about my neighbours.”