A LATE night bar has angered families by applying for permission to stay open until 2am on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.

Funky Mojoe in High Road, South Woodford, also wants to open late on a bank holiday in August and another date in late October.

The Temporary Events Notice comes just two months after the club withdrew an application to stay open until 3am on six nights after Redbridge council’s anti social behaviour team objected.

The bar already has a licence to open until 2.30am on Friday and Saturday nights, and residents who have fought a long battle to have its hours restricted say they are angry about the additional late night requests.

Lynda Edwards lives in Manor Court Lodge retirement flats directly next door to the bar.

She said: “A lot of the time I go round to my niece’s on a Friday or a Saturday because it is just impossible to sleep with the noise caused by people coming out of that place.

“There are elderly people living here who are too scared to say anything about it as it is without landing them with noise over Christmas.”

Residents have been holding regular meetings with the management of Funky Mojoe in an effort to alleviate the situation.

But many of them say those meetings have been yielded nothing in the way of improvements.

David Jack, 46, of St Albans Road, Woodford Green said: “Funky Mojoe has gone to great lengths to tell us that they are part of the community and care about it.

“But at the last meeting they were asked why they didn’t inform residents about the Temporary Event Notices which they applied for in May, and their manager just said ‘I don’t have to tell you.’

“That was not very well received and I don’t think the fact that they have made these new applications will be either.”

Last month council Leader Keith Prince said new legislation due in October would give the council more power to restrict opening hours in areas deemed to be residential.

In the absence of that legislation, Cllr Hugh Cleaver, who represents Church End Ward, says he will join residents in asking the council’s ASB team to oppose Mojoe’s latest request.

He added: “The requests for an extension around Christmas are particularly worrying because residents have enough to put up with without having their peace ruined at that time of year.

“I will be asking the ASB team to look at the applications but frustratingly with Temporary Event Notices, only they and the police are allowed to officially object to them.”

Funky Mojoe refused to comment.

The Guardian is awaiting a response from Redbridge council.

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