CIVIC chiefs are being accused of wasting thousands of pounds of tax-payers’ money in an “unnecessary” court battle over noise at a Southampton nightclub.

Council environmental bosses got into a legal scrap with 90 Degrees owner, Nikos Raftopoulos, after a noise complaint from a nearby resident.

But the authority lost its High Court case last week, and has now been forced to shell out £17,000 in legal fees.

The Echo understands that with the council’s own legal and administreation costs, the case could cost the authority in the region of £80,000 – a figure civic chiefs refused to comment on.

Mr Raftopoulos said he offered the authority the chance to pull out of the legal battle, claiming the noise was coming from elsewhere.

He asked the notice against his club be pulled and the council offer him an apology.

But the council instead took its chances in court and lost, after a judge agreed the noise wasn’t from 90 Degrees.

The club boss said: “It was completely unnecessary.

“I told them several times that the music was not coming from my club.

“They even visited and we turned off the music in my club and you could still hear music.

“But they picked on me because I’m an independent business.

“I said to them before we went to court that if they apologised I would drop any costs and leave it behind, but they still went ahead.”

The issue began last February when a resident in the area contacted the council to complain.

The council issued an abatement notice against the club and Mr Raftopoulos turned his music down for fear of being shut down.

Mr Raftopoulos continued to plead with the council to drop the case, before deciding to take legal action.

During an appeal at Southampton Crown Court in February, Judge Gary Burrell overturned the notice.

He ruled that the source of the noise nuisance “was not 90 Degrees” and ordered the council to pay more than £17,000 in legal costs.

But the council appealed the decision at the High Court in London, heard last week, claiming it been obliged to issue the abatement notice and should not have to pay the costs of the case.

Dismissing the appeal, however, Judge Alice Robinson said Mr Raftopoulos had been “willing to engage” with the council and had “co-operated throughout”.

She said the council had “unreasonably” failed to consult him before issuing the abatement notice.

Mr Raftopoulos said: “I don’t feel like a winner.

“I’ve lost hundreds of thousands of pounds because of the stress on the business and having to turn the music down during the year the notice was in place. Taxpayers have also lost out; there are better things the council could spend money on.”

A spokesperson for the city council refused to comment on why the council had issued Mr Raftopoulos with the notice, saying: “We will not be discussing details relating to this specific case.

“In each instance where the council undertakes enforcement measures regarding an individual, business or organisation this will only take place when we feel the circumstances justify it and/or legislation requires it.”