A NEWQUAY bar owner was branded a "menace" and stripped of his premises licence at a fiery hearing on Thursday.

Paul Quinney, who runs Haoles Surf Club on Cliff Road, was accused of playing "thunderous" music at the venue, which regularly kept neighbours' children awake until 2.30am.

Environmental health officers told members of Cornwall Council's licensing act sub-committee that they had witnessed breaches of a noise abatement notice on three occasions last year.

Landlord John Weller labelled Mr Quinney a "menace" and a "rogue licensee", claiming he intended to drive out tenants in the four flats above the club.

But Mr Quinney, 38, who was not present at the meeting, has since hit back at the criticism saying he lost more than £80,000 in the failed business.

He told the Cornish Guardian he had not breached the terms of his licence and had been hounded out of the premises.

Mr Quinney said: "Rogue licensee? I don't even know what that's supposed to mean. He [Mr Weller] said he would try to help me, not push me out of business.

"Yes, I was trying to get some of them out because they were viciously trying to get us closed down. Some of them kept complaining even after they had moved out.

"As far as being a menace is concerned, I was just trying to run my business under the licence I was issued. Like any businessman, I was trying to make money."

On November 25 last year environmental health officers confiscated all of the sound equipment at Haoles, including six speakers.

The Cornish Guardian reported at the time that Mr Quinney had been reduced to playing music from an iPod in a pint glass on the bar.

Speaking at last week's meeting, environmental health officer Kevin Brader listed the occasions when officers spoke to Mr Quinney about excessive noise at the bar.

He told committee members: "It is evident that … the licensee has had nothing but a disregard for the conditions of the licence.

"The residents above have chosen to leave the flat, in our opinion driven out by the noise coming from this premises."

Mr Weller said: "The problem here has been one person, a rogue licensee.

"We, as landlords, contacted environmental health so we could co-operate together to remove this man.

"Never in my experience of 20 years have I ever come across anyone quite like him. The man is a menace."

Cornwall councillor Geoff Brown said he had been informed by Newquay Town Residents' Association that "thunderous" music had been keeping children awake until 2.30am.

Mr Brown said: "The licensee had repeatedly failed to recognise he was creating a problem relating to public nuisance and the wellbeing of children and he had consistently failed to put in place any remedial actions to mitigate the problem."

Police licensing officer Susanne Edwards revealed to the committee that neighbours had contacted the police eight times in 2011 to complain about the disturbance.

Following the decision to revoke Mr Quinney's licence, he told this newspaper he had already surrendered it voluntarily. Keys have been handed back to the landlord and the locks changed.