A restaurant has been fined £6,000 after failing to fix an extremely noisy extractor fan despite requests from the council and complaints from residents.

The Monte Portugese Café in London Road, Southend, was handed the fine after being found guilty of failing to comply with a noise Abatement Notice at Southend Magistrates Court.

A noise Abatement Notice requires companies to reduce the level of noise that is being emitted from their premises.

The case was taken to the court by Southend Council.

The council's environmental health team served the notice on the restaurant's premises in February 2017 due to the excessive noise caused by the extractor inside the kitchen, which had forced complaints from residents.

The restaurant was fined £2,500 per offence, equating to a total of a £5,000 fine.

Magistrates also ordered the business to pay £1,245 in costs and a victim surcharge of £120.

Following the hearing, Tony Cox, councillor for transport, waste and regulatory services, said: “I would like to thank our Environmental Health Officers for their diligence and professionalism in preparing this prosecution.

"Everyone has the right to the peaceful enjoyment of their home and we will protect that right with appropriate action where required.

“I would like to stress that, when we receive complaints about noise from businesses, we try our best to work with that business to resolve the issue.

"However, where a business consistently fails to take appropriate action after we have offered our best advice, we will take the issue to court”.