A cider farm near the M5 in Somerset will be able to play live music and hold events throughout the year after a new licence was approved.

Rich’s Cider Farm is a family-run business located on the B3139 in the hamlet of Watchfield, around two miles from Highbridge town centre and junction 22 of the motorway.

In addition to producing cider for nearly 70 years, the company runs the Cider Farm restaurant and stages various events throughout the year, including wedding receptions.

Sedgemoor District Council has now granted the company a new licence to continue its diverse business ventures, despite protests from some of its closest neighbours.

Jan Scott, grand-daughter of the farm’s founder Gordon William Rich, laid out the history of her business at a meeting of the council’s licensing and gambling panel in Bridgwater on Thursday afternoon (August 4).

She said: “Nearly 70 years ago my father bought the farm. He started making cider and selling it to local pubs, especially in Bridgwater.

“I promised my dad I would do everything I could to keep the business going. It’s been a long hard journey since the pub trade was not going to be there – things were changing, big chains and the breweries were taking the bulk of the cider being drunk.

“We’re two miles from junction 22 of the M5, and all the caravans come through for Brean and so forth. There’s more caravan parks in our area than anywhere else in Europe.

“I decided to diversify and make this a little taste of Somerset. It started with the restaurant, which we built 15 years ago for afternoon teas and lunches.”

Ms Scott applied to consolidate the two existing licences for the premises into one new licence, which would allow alcohol to be sold for consumption on and off the premises, as well as both live and recorded music to be played.

She said this would allow the business to continue trading at a viable level, providing services for local people as well as those visiting from further afield.

She said: “Eat Out to Help Out helped us a lot because we had people coming who didn’t know we did food. As time went one, we’ve had more people asking from Rotary, Lions and so on. We’ve even done wedding receptions.

“In order to continue with the business, we’ve now built a shop – we opened three weeks ago and can now offer milk, cheese and so forth. We had people coming from the village during the pandemic saying they wished we did bread and so forth.

“I don’t want to cause anybody any undue upset. I just hope we can come to some sort of sensible decisions which means I can do events.”

The business, which currently employs 65 people, can generate up to £10,000 in revenue from a small wedding.

Tracey Salway, who lives near the business, spoke on behalf of half a dozen other residents, raising concerns about noise and antisocial behaviour.

She said: “We are all very fearful and anxious for the future if Rich’s is granted a licence for outside alcohol. It would be very distressing.

“Riches can apply for a temporary event notice for any event throughout the year, and we feel this is ample.

“We’ve all been disturbed when they’ve held discos and live music events, many of which have breached their existing licence. We have lived here peacefully for many years, some of us for many years. My and my husband have lived here for 30 years.

“We want Rich’s to prosper, but they must exercise respect to their closest neighbours.”

After around half an hour’s deliberation in confidential session, the panel voted to grant Rich’s Cider Farm a new licence, citing the lack of a formal objection from Avon and Somerset Constabulary.

Under the new licence, the business will be able to sell alcohol for consumption on or off the premises between 8am and 11pm between Sunday and Thursday each week, and between 8am and midnight on Friday and Saturday.

The same restrictions also apply to playing live or recorded music indoors, with a condition that noise must be monitored at least once every two hours after 9pm each night.

The business will also be restricted to holding outdoor marquee events on only four days a year, and no recorded music must be played outdoors after 10:30pm.