A NIGHT spot dubbed “the pub from hell” by residents is facing closure after losing an appeal against refusal of an entertainment licence.

Medway Council in July last year refused to renew the licence for the Royal Function Rooms in Rochester after a flood of complaints about noise and anti-social behaviour.

Licensees Andrew and Mary Barnes appealed the decision at magistrates’ court in December but it was upheld. Now Maidstone Crown Court has rejected a further appeal - and sounded the death knell for the bar at the historical building in Star Hill.

Alisdair Williamson, for the Royal Function Rooms, said after the decision: “The business is in a parlous state. This will be, in effect, the end of the business.”

A judge and two magistrates heard evidence from residents who complained about deafening music, fights and customers urinating on their property. One told how he even caught a couple having sex outside his house.

Mr Barnes was ordered to pay the £7,951 costs of the appeal. He had not yet paid the £4,200 costs of the magistrates court hearing. He was given six months to pay both amounts.