Cornwall Council has said it acted reasonably in serving a noise abatement notice on Falmouth nightclub Mango's following a history of neighbours' complaints stretching back two years.

There was public outcry on Monday after the club's owner Dave Deans decided to shut it down due to what he described as "unfair" noise complaints, and in a statement issued this morning the council has said it did not require the venue to close.

It did say that different members of the public had complained about loud noise from the club, "in particular the bass beat," which environmental health inspectors had found to be clearly audible in nearby properties. However, the council also confirmed that there were no specific noise limits for the bar to stick to, an issue which Mr Deans said had led to the closure as he felt he couldn't fight an inspector's personal opinion.

In its statement, the council said: "A number of complaints, by a number of different members of the public, have been made to Cornwall Council about the loud music noise and bass beat emanating from Mango's since 2014.

"The most recent investigation into noise complaints about Mango's commenced following a complaint in July 2015. A further complaint was received in January 2016 from a different source. Officers of the council made contact with the management of Mango's following the initial complaint and a meeting was held and advice given. 

"The EPA 1990 does not specify any noise limits which a club must comply with. The council has to be satisfied of the existence of a statutory noise nuisance and that the assessment of the statutory nuisance takes into account factors such as frequency, duration, character of the area, time of the day and effect.

"The investigation found that loud music noise from Mangos, in particular the bass beat, was clearly audible inside surrounding properties. The effect was such that it clearly and unreasonably disturbed the sleep of those who complained on a regular basis. Officers, in their professional opinion and experience, were satisfied that the disturbance amounted to a statutory noise nuisance as defined by the EPA 1990.

"The council was therefore were under a duty to serve a noise abatement notice on the person/company responsible for the nuisance.  The notice was served on the company responsible for Mango's at the end of March and it required that the noise nuisance was abated by April 26 2016. The notice did not require Mango's to close, that decision was the management's alone. The notice also had a 21 day appeal period during which the management of Mango's could have appealed the notice to the magistrates court. Cornwall Council has not received any notification that the notice has been appealed. 

"How the nuisance was to be abated was left up to the management of the club. Following service of the notice officers advised at the initial meeting with the management that noise control should be based on controlling the noise level inside the premises to ensure that breakout of music noise and bass beat was reduced so it could not be heard inside nearby residential properties. 

"It was not appropriate to set outdoor limits because there are a lot of other extraneous noises created in the area at the time of night Mango's operated which would interfere with their ability to ensure that they would have been measuring noise that they had created. The council considers it has acted reasonably and fairly in dealing with the management of Mango's."

A protest against the closure is to be held on the Moor tomorrow afternoon at 2pm.