Manchester's Night and Day Venue faces the moment of truth as court hearing begins

Night and Day Cafe, which is credited for sparking the beginning of Manchester's thriving Northern quarter, faces a three-day court hearing this week to try to overturn a noise abatement order served by the city council last year. If it loses, Night & Day has said it would have no choice but to close.

The venue was issued with the order after complaints from residents in nearby flats of noise going on late into the night. The venue has a 4am licence and features DJs after their usual programme of bands.

It is now appealing the notice in court. Though it’s not possible to close a venue with a Noise Abatement Notice, it could be subject to seizure of sound equipment, fines and even prosecution.

The venue has claimed that when the unit next door was converted into flats in the early 2000s, a further, more in-depth survey into sound insulation that was recommended in planning documents never took place. Manchester City Council has denied the claims saying it 'completely rejects any suggestion that planning conditions were not met'.

Jennifer Smithson, who owns Night and Day said she was at a loss to understand why she was in court.

She added that she thought the council should be proud of what the night and day Cafe achieves for the city

Manchester city council has said that it has never threatened to close Night and Day but it does want the club to stick by its own noise management plan and it want some arrangement in place so the neighbours will not be disturbed.

Acclaimed acts including Elbow, Ed Sheeran, Johnny Marr and the Arctic Monkeys have all played at the venue. Elbow lead singer Guy Garvey has backed calls to save the pioneering music venue

It's not the first time that the venue has fallen foul of the council's licencing department, having been threatened with closure in 2014 over noise nuisance. The hearing is expected to last three days.