CONTROVERSIAL South Woodford nightspot Funky Mojoes has won permission to continue serving alcohol until 2am at weekends – to the anger of its neighbours.

In May the bar was ordered to stop serving alcohol at midnight by Redbridge Council, after sustained objections from nearby residents who said that anti-social behaviour from the bar’s clients was making their lives a misery.

But the bar has continued to stay open late pending an appeal against that decision, and their late opening hours were given official approval at a licensing committee meeting on Tuesday.

At the hearing, Mojoes’ lawyer David Dadds said that a Michelin-starred chef had designed a new open-plan kitchen for the venue, which would now offer “modern English fare,” but residents said the late licence would do nothing to tackle the old problems.

Bernice Van Loen of Tempus Court said: “I’m aghast. It’s just going to be more of the same.

“I think the decision makes a mockery of the previous council decisions to limit the opening hours to the bar that’s there now. In fact, I think the decision makes the councillors look a bit stupid.”

Linda Edwards of Manor Court said: “I don’t think you could repeat what I’d really like to say. I’m absolutely disgusted with Redbridge Council. What are we paying our council taxes for?

“It’s going to be exactly the same as before and another thing is that it’s depreciating the value of our property. Who wants to buy a property next door to a nightclub? There aren’t any words that can express how we feel.”

Mr Dadds told the meeting: “We need a licence for 2am to make this business work. These changes have been proposed in the spirit of compromise. We are seeking something sustainable, that the residents can live with.

This issue has become very political. We want to take the politics out of this.”

Defending the committee’s decision Cllr Alex Wilson said: "We’ve tried to be sensitive to the many issues raised by residents and in the end it’s always a bit of a balancing act to try and keep everyone happy.

“The main point of this new application is that it’s a change to a bar and restaurant, which will change the kind of clientele that will be going there.”

“The new licence is subject to lots and lots of conditions that will have to be met, which have to be written up in a way that will be legally watertight.”