THREE couples were left in a reception quandary yesterday as the Hotel Bon Port marquee row hit the Royal Court. The court granted a licence for a charity event in the 250-person tent on Friday.

But the hotel will have to reapply for a licence to cover the three wedding receptions booked in the marquee.

Neighbours’ predictions of traffic chaos proved true on Saturday when the marquee was used for the first time.

But police blamed the residents.

‘It is the police opinion that those ‘problems’ were a direct result of activities of certain people in the area,’ Inspector Hardy told the court.

Four neighbours and senior constable Richard Strappini were in court to oppose the application.

Mr Strappini said that the douzaine objected because the additional hotel traffic would cause chaos in the area.

‘This is not a public road – or a private road in the sense that it is owned – but a shared access to the agricultural fields and to the hotel.’

Advocate Eddie Prentice, on behalf of the hotel, told the court that residents had barricaded their gateways at the weekend so that cars could not pull into their driveways to pass.

But neighbour Roy Greaves said that gateways on the lane had been blocked with scaffolding poles for many years.

Lt-Bailiff David Lowe said that serving alcohol in the marquee would be permitted on Friday on condition that hotel management ensured traffic was controlled in the area while it was in use.

‘Any interference to the flow of traffic by anybody will be taken into account in future applications,’ he said.

Mr Strappini told the court that parish authorities were also concerned as to whether they should play a positive part in the licensing process at a time when it was alleged that the hotel had breached planning laws by placing topsoil on the land on which the marquee is situated.

Speaking outside the court, Mr Strappini said: ‘Of course we accept the court’s decision, but it does not alter our view that the question of the heap ‘of topsoil’ has not yet been resolved.’

Mr Strappini told the court that parish officials were also concerned that functions at the marquee would result in excessive noise.

‘A further group of people, particularly those who live along the cliff lines of Petit Port, Jerbourg and Icart, will have to enjoy many summer evenings listening to Jumping Jack Flash and Wild Thing,’ he told the court.

Mark Galins, who has co-run the hotel for four-and-a-half years, told the court that Mr Strappini and hotel neighbours did not hold a monopoly on caring for the area.

‘Our main objective is to make it a pleasurable experience for people who visit Bon Port.’