Claims of harassment and bullying were made at a licensing committee hearing where an application for a licence was refused.

Councillors refused to grant a licence for The Gremlin at Kinnaid Hall in Penzance, saying it would have a negative impact on the area.

Michael Benjamin Thomas had applied to Cornwall Council for a licence for the venue which was formerly an RAF Association club.

But there was anger from opponents to the plan who claimed they had been subject to bullying and felt intimidated by supporters of the application.

They made reference to a Facebook page – A Future for Penzance – which had posted about the licence application and published the names of all those who had objected and branded them “an elitist cabal of wealthy incomers”.

The applicants said after the meeting that they had no connection with the group and distanced themselves from it saying that whoever ran it was doing so independently.

Emma Favata, a resident of Chapel Street in Penzance, told the committee that she “felt intimidated” and concerned after seeing the Facebook comments.

She also highlighted that her 15-year-old daughter was among those who had objected to the licence application and added: “I find it all very alarming and I have considerable concerns.”

The Facebook post had encouraged people to email the councillors who sat on the licensing committee. Ahead of the hearing council legal advisor Mark Andrews said any comments received would be disregarded by the committee.

The application had been to reopen the club to operate as a community hub during the day where people could go and work and then in the evening could host live music events.

But the applicants said they had been victims of a rumour which had been spread around Penzance claiming that they were planning to open a nightclub.

They said a flyer had been distributed around the town making the claims and suggested that many of the objections had been made based on that information.

The applicants told the committee: “We have never had any intention to operate the premises as a nightclub.”

However opponents raised concerns about the application which was looking to serve alcohol until 1am and play live music until midnight along with having a 3am closing time on certain dates including bank holidays and Mazey Day.

They claimed there would be disturbance from the venue which is surrounded by residential properties.

There had been 42 objections to the application and residents had also funded a barrister to represent them at the meeting.

Penzance councillor Cornelius Olivier said he was concerned about the application but a compromise could be reached if alcohol was not served beyond 11pm and a closing time of midnight was imposed.

“Otherwise,” he said “local residents run the risk of being exposed to a level of disturbance that they have not previously had to endure.”

Marlene Favata, 15, had taken time away from school to address the committee and said she was concerned that her GCSE studies could be affected if the club was allowed to open and open until 1am.

David Campbell, barrister for the residents, told the committee that he thought it was a “bad application” which would contravene the council’s licensing objectives.

He said: “There are some licences that come to committee that are not well thought through and can be amended. Then there is this bad application that if you were to try and make and shoehorn this application to fit your policy you would have to rewrite it from the beginning.”

The Gremlin Club is located in the cumulative impact zone (CIZ) in Penzance which limits new licensed premises. As it is in the CIZ the applicants have to be able to demonstrate that it would have no negative impact on the area and the council’s licensing objectives.

In their decision tol reject the application the committee members stated that they did not think the applicants had achieved this and felt it would have a negative impact on the area.

When put to the vote it was approved by two votes to one.

Speaking after the hearing, the applicants said they were still deciding whether to appeal against the decision.