A fundraising ‘carnival event’ at the Dartmoor Lodge Hotel on Saturday (August 29) has been toned down to avoid potential complaints about excessive noise.

The hotel in Ashburton was planning to hold a Rio Carnival-themed day and evening, with a steel band and dancing, to raise money for Rowcroft Hospice.

But now it’ll be a quieter event with no band, held entirely indoors, from 7pm.

There will be a charity raffle and auction, and a drag act by Roberta Calamari.

Explaining the change of plan, the hotel’s management said Dartmoor Lodge had been “subject to continued complaints and objections from a very small number of local residents regarding events and activities at the Little Lodge” (its outdoor café and garden area).

“These complaints have now resulted in increasing regulatory scrutiny and the prospect of further action being taken against the business.”

There is already a restriction in place on playing amplified music at the Little Lodge or in the hotel’s grounds.

Concerned that the carnival event would trigger further complaints, the hotel initially announced that it was cancelled – but then decided to go ahead with the lower-volume alternative, so that Rowcroft Hospice can still benefit from the fundraising.

Jane Coles from the Dartmoor Lodge said she didn’t want to name the people who had objected to the carnival event, but is appealing to customers and local residents to support the venue.

She said: “Of course we accept that we have responsibilities towards our neighbours. Excessive amplified music and genuinely unreasonable disturbance need to be properly managed, and we will work constructively with the authorities to do that.

“But we also believe there has to be a reasonable balance between protecting neighbouring residents and allowing a long-established hospitality business to operate normally.”

She said the Dartmoor Lodge’s beer garden is a place where people talk, laugh and enjoy themselves, and that “there’s more noise coming from cars going past on the A38 than from the beer garden”.

Jane said: “We will continue doing everything reasonably expected of us to manage noise responsibly and respectfully.

“But we also intend to stand up for Dartmoor Lodge, our employees, our customers, the considerable investment that has been made here and our right to operate a responsible and successful hospitality business.”