A HIGH-profile pub chain has been accused of doing “whatever it likes” after building a car park on a field before applying for planning permission.

Paul Anderson said his 73-year-old mother, Joan, who lives next to The Carpenters Arms, in Felixkirk, near Thirsk, had been regularly disturbed and left in a state of anxiety after a 14-space car park was built.

Mr Anderson said: “This car park is causing a lot of stress for my mother, with car lights shining into her property late at night from a field which used to have sheep in it.

“Along with the beer garden that has been created, this doubles the size of the footprint of the pub plot in its entirety, making it disproportionate to the size of the village. The village will now be a large pub with a few small houses in, rather than a collection of houses with a pub in. Provenance Inns are doing whatever they like.”

Following concerns over the development being raised with Hambleton District Council and calls for enforcement action, the pub’s owners Provenance Inns submitted a retrospective planning application in a bid to get permission for the car park and a fence to limit disturbances to neighbours.

Agents for the firm, which runs numerous pubs in North Yorkshire, including The Black Bull, Moulton and The Cleveland Tontine, Staddlebridge, said the car park extension would help ensure the inn’s viability and would only be used from 8am to 10pm. They stated: “Village pubs are under considerable economic pressure and as such the promotion of theme nights is essential in ensuring the pub remains viable year round. On some occasions this can result in the main car park becoming full.”

In a report to planners, the agents added the firm allowed residents and church-goers to use its car park, but that sometimes meant the pub’s customers had nowhere to park, meaning an overflow car park was needed for its staff.

They stated: “These circumstances arise some three to four days a week depending on the time of year. As a village pub The Carpenters Arms is happy to play its part in facilitating local events, and supporting the village by allowing general use of its car park, but clearly this has implications for the operation of the pub.”

Hillside Parish Council is yet to consider the plan.