People living next to an unauthorised beer garden in the Lincoln Bailgate say the noise has made their own gardens “extremely unpleasant”.

The Duke William Hotel bought a neighbouring property and converted the garden to an outdoor drinking area without permission.

Neighbours were unhappy about the construction of the new 36-person beer garden, which began in November 2025, but assumed it had planning permission.

It was only when the City of Lincoln Council served a stop notice in summer 2026 that they discovered otherwise.

The Duke William is now applying for retrospective permission to make the extension legal, but residents are against this.

Ciara Pinder-Smith says she’s stopped using the garden behind her business, which now has only a thin wooden fence separating it from the pub’s land.

“We are now overlooked, have lost privacy, and the level of noise has become horrendous,” she said.

“We should not have had to fight to protect our privacy, gardens and quality of life from works that were carried out without the appropriate consent.”

Ciara temporarily leased her garden to the pub, which says complaints only began after the breakdown of the commercial relationship. She disputes this. 

Imogen Wilde, who lives next door to Ciara, said: “It has become extremely intrusive. We were more than prepared to accept a reasonable and expected level of noise associated with living near a pub.

“However, over time, the Duke William has significantly expanded its outdoor areas, to the point where the impact on our home and garden has become extremely unpleasant. 

“What was once a lovely, peaceful and quiet place to spend time in our own garden has changed considerably.

We should be able to sit in our garden, enjoy time with friends and have a conversation without being subjected to people drinking, shouting and screaming for prolonged periods.”

The Duke William denies that the extended beer garden would affect residents’ privacy or quality of life, and says it takes their concerns seriously.

It has proposed “earlier closing times, acoustic screening, and formal management controls” in its application to minimise disruption.

“Acoustic fencing is proposed to reduce sound transmission, with boundary screening and planting also intended to improve privacy,” a spokesperson said.

“Staff supervision, closure checks, a direct contact for neighbours and recorded investigation of complaints would support these physical measures. 

“Our acoustic consultant’s modelling predicts that the proposed acoustic fencing would reduce noise in the garden at No. 38 compared with the existing arrangement, even with the additional customers.

“We hope residents will support these measures, which aim to improve neighbouring amenity while allowing the Duke William to continue investing in Lincoln. We remain happy to discuss practical concerns as the application is considered.”

It also claims very few noise complaints have been submitted to the City of Lincoln Council.

The pub also erected shelters and a patio in its beer garden without permission, which it had to seek retrospective planning permission for. This was granted at a meeting in September. 

By Jamie Waller (Local Democracy Reporter)