A wedding venue has been given the go-ahead for late-night events, despite concerns of nearby residents who fear they will be disturbed by revellers and staff leaving the stately home in the early hours of the morning.

One householder said a bid by Country House Weddings to run events at Holmewood Hall, Holme, until 1am was "wholly inappropriate" for a residential area.

But Huntingdonshire District Council's licensing sub-committee approved the granting of a premises licence for the building - which had a licence until January this year when it was given up by former operator British Sugar, which used the hall for training and other events.

The sub-committee imposed stringent conditions on keeping a lid on noise emissions from the building.

Country House Weddings said in a report to the council that it expected to host around 200 weddings a year in the luxurious surroundings of Holmewood Hall, together with events such as those commemorating the Second World War and murder mystery evenings.

In its application the firm said: "The applicant seeks a licence in order to supply alcohol to those attending events at the premises.

"Since the vast majority of events will be wedding and wedding receptions, the applicant seeks a licence to permit the supply of alcohol and provision of late night refreshment up to 1am.

"Further, that the provision of live music and recorded music should be licensed up to the same time, as should the provision for dancing."

The firm, which operates a number of wedding venues, said that the murder mystery events could involve the use of actors and the licence application also covered permission for plays up to 1am.

One resident wrote to the council saying: "Such hours are wholly inappropriate for a property in a residential area.

"We are already to be affected by the increase in traffic and noise that will arise when the hall is open and this will only just be bearable until 11pm, which is what we were led to be the case."

They said: "Extending the hours until the early hours every day of the week is totally unacceptable and will be detrimental to the quality of life and sleep of the local residents.

"There will be noisy guests waiting for their transport at all hours, car engines running whilst they wait/are picking up guests, vehicles will be going in and coming out of the hall's entrance and all of this at any hour of the night and early hours of the morning."

Another resident called for the licence to be restricted to midnight: "The hall is situated in the village and close to local residents' property. However, at night there is no background noise and it is very quiet, therefore any noise travels and is very disturbing event to some properties some distance away, giving the potential to affect a considerable number of village residents."

He said he did not oppose the licence in principle, but added: "After all, most people choose village life for the peace and quiet and this could potentially impact on many residents."

In a report to the committee one of the council's environmental health officers called for conditions to be imposed on the licence, including the closure of doors and windows at the hall during music events, noise limiters to be fitted and that for events going past 11pm, noise should not be audible at sensitive premises with windows open for ventilation.

She said: "I have concerns over the potential for noise nuisance in relation to indoor live and recorded music events as there are residential properties close to Holmewood Hall, the nearest being 80m away.

"As the application stands, an indoor music event could occur every day of the year until 1am."