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Barts bar
Catalogue of complaints: customers at Barts bar outside the Chelsea mansion block

Residents' fury at royal drinking club

Sri Carmichael, Consumer Affairs Reporter
8 Jun 2009


A Chelsea bar popular with friends of Prince William and Prince Harry faces closure after residents complained about the behaviour of customers.

Barts opened in a former residents' bar of the Chelsea Cloisters mansion block on Sloane Avenue in February. Those living in the flats say it has blighted their lives ever since.

The Evening Standard has seen a dossier sent to Kensington and Chelsea council about the venue, owned by entrepreneurs Duncan Stirling and Charlie Gilkes who run Kate Middleton's favourite nightclub, nearby Kitts in Sloane Square.

The catalogue of complaints includes claims that customers:

●Vomited on the floor of the communal lavatories, leaving them unusable.

●Packed the front steps of the flats, smoking, shouting and intimidating residents.

●Wandered unchecked through the mansion block, reacting rudely when confronted by residents.

●Started a fire by throwing lit cigarette butts into rubbish bins, setting off the fire alarm.

Mrs Jennifer Heaton, 76, who owns two flats in the building, said: "The conduct of the bar owners and the Hoorays who drink there is outrageous.

"When I complained to a manager he tried to impress me by saying he went to Eton and Edinburgh and the bar was some kind of new royal hidey-hole which the princes visited.

"But I couldn't give a stuff where these people are from if they behave in such a disruptive, ghastly manner. They keep people awake and leave the place a frightful mess."

Academic Dr Karin Grigar, 41, said she was woken up after midnight by a young couple having a screaming fight outside her door. "I asked them to be quiet and they turned on me, swearing."

The owners of Barts are applying to extend the licence to include longer opening hours during the week and live music. But more than 30 residents, including a peer, have written to the council objecting.

They say it should not exist in a block inhabited by the elderly and young families, especially when customers must walk through the lobby to reach it.

Mr Stirling, 28, and Mr Gilkes, 25, rent Barts, from property tycoon Christopher Moran, who owns the freehold of Chelsea Cloisters. Knowledge of its existence has spread through word of mouth in private west London clubs such as Boujis and Raffles.

Barts' clientele are said to love its boarding school-style food, advertised under the headings "stodge" and "sugar". Krug Rosé champagne is sold for £395 while a jeroboam of Belvedere vodka costs £550.

Bar owner Mr Gilkes said: "While we've had 34 objections to our application to extend the licence, we've also had 21 letters of support.

"We've only ever had one resident who complained about the bar prior to our application so we were unaware of the concerns and now we're taking it very seriously."

A hearing about the licence extension application will be heard at Chelsea town hall next Monday.

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