The organisers of Porthleven’s Masked Ball have reassured residents that the event will not get any bigger, in the wake of complaints following last week’s event.

Alex Short and Kelvin Batt were speaking at a meeting of Porthleven Town Council last Thursday, following the most recent event the previous Saturday and Sunday.

At this meeting member Andy Wallis, who is also Cornwall Councillor for the area, said he had received a number of complaints about noise, relating to both the level and direction it travelled. The most affected was the Tolponds Road area.

There were also some concerns about the “general behaviour of people leaving the premises.”

He said he had received several telephone calls on the night and subsequently been sent emails and three letters.

The complaints were now being dealt with by the licensing and environmental health departments at Cornwall Council.

Mr Short said a lot of work went in to ensuring the noise did not exceed agreed levels.

“The thing with noise is it’s not an exact science and you can’t completely prepare for it. You can only do your best.

“We were taking readings through the village all night and we found you couldn’t hear it in the base of the village.

“It travelled over the top; action was taken. We identified the source we thought was the most offending sound system and they were turned down.”

“We do everything we can,” he added.

Town mayor Mark Berryman said while he had heard it in the past, this year he had not and believed a lot was down to the direction of the wind.

New councillor Liz Lane said while she appreciated the work that went in to staging these events, she had concerns over the size and the potential for even further development.

However, Mr Batt said that the event was capped at 3,000 people – including staff and performers – and the site was now “as big as it will ever get.”

Mr Wallis confirmed that in order to increase that number a new licence would have to be applied for.