Residents fear they will be able to hear temporary cinema in Berwick from their gardens

The site will be used while the current theatre at The Maltings undergoes a multi-million pound refurbishment, and is expected to be in place for the next three years.

Once the new Maltings is completed, the temporary cinema at the Barracks’ Mob Store will be adapted into a facility to house the town’s extensive archives.

However, homeowners on Ravensdowne next to the town’s barracks fear they will be able to hear the noise from the 96-seat facility from their gardens during screenings.

Speaking at Thursday’s meeting of the North Northumberland Local Area Committee, resident Joan Montgomery argued the case for her and her neighbours.

She said: “I’m speaking on behalf of those closest and most affected by this. I will be able to listen to all the screenings from my garden.

“When we first saw the plans we were surprised and then shocked. It is a poor space for the residents of the town.

“If we asked 100 residents to suggest a site for a temporary cinema, we suspect that the Mob Store would not appear on the list at all.

“If this is approved, our only recourse would be to seek a judicial review.”

Fellow Ravensdowne resident Ian Madeley added: “Consultees have suggested there is sufficient distance between our properties and the cinema, this is just not true. It will be sited just a few yards away from our listed and historical properties.

“My own house is just 20 yards from the access gate and I am not the nearest.

“It is clear that it will be almost impossible to properly soundproof the Mob Store.The Applicant has indicated that there will still be low frequency noise leakage and there is nothing further that can be done about it – we are basically the collateral damage in a badly thought through proposal.

“Patron and traffic noise generated on Ravensdowne by people travelling to the cinema has not been assessed and cannot be controlled or limited by conditions. The applicant has clearly and deliberately ignored the impact of patron noise throughout this process.”

But council planners had recommended the proposals for approval, and members voted to grant planning permission in line with this.

Coun Trevor Thorne said: “I’m doing this because I feel that our colleagues from public protection have really bottomed out the containment of the noise. I am reassured by the head of planning that we’re going to look at all measures to make sure we contain the noise in the building as much as possible.

“I feel the officers have done a really good job on this. I think we’ve done our bit to lessen the impact.”

Coun Colin Hardy added: “I speak as a local resident and someone who has had the privilege of being in the Barracks. I will be supporting this.

“I have sympathy with the residents and I would have used a similar argument to stop the hospital being built, which is just outside my door, but we all have to take a little bit of pain from time to time to support the betterment of the town.”