A DECISION on whether or not top DJ Pete Tong can star at a Huddersfield event will be taken only hours before it.

Councillors are to decide whether or not to grant a licence for the Huddersfield club night just eight hours before hundreds of revellers prepare to party.

Kirklees Council’s Licensing Panel will meet at 3pm on Friday to decide whether to allow the Afterparty night to take place at Bates Mill warehouse from 11pm to 7am.

The temporary licence application covers the serving of alcohol, music and the hours the premises could open.

Legendary DJ Tong is set to headline the event, the second gig to be held at the 1,300- capacity venue on Milford Street by the Afterparty team.

On March 8 they welcomed Groove Armada, Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac and Scratch Perverts to Bates Mill in a major coup for Huddersfield.

Word spread on the dance scene and Pete Tong asked to appear at the event, part of which is to be broadcast live on Radio 1, between 3am and 5am, and recorded for Tong’s ‘essential mix’ CD.

But following the first event several residents from the nearby 1535 flats complex on Firth Street complained about noise.

Four residents, the 1535 The Melting Point management company and a ward councillor have objected to the licence being granted for the event, which will run from 11pm to 7am.

The main concerns involved noise made by people leaving the event, rather than noise from the music.

However, the Afterparty team said they have learned that some of the noise came from parties held at flats in the 1535 complex that night.

Nevertheless, they have promised to bring in extra measures to combat the problems.

Dave Biddle – who DJs with the Afterparty team as Bongo Dave – said: “We have worked very hard raising our profile and the profile of Huddersfield. This is our opportunity to put the town on the map.

“We will put every effort into keeping the sound levels down and keeping the public away from 1535.”

Organisers will pay for an environmental health officer to monitor sound levels for the duration of the event.

Also, stewards will be placed on Firth Street and Queen Street South to direct revellers towards Chapel Hill, away from residential areas.

The warehouse gigs were originally planned to take place on the last Saturday of every month but that now seems unlikely.

The existing Afterparty nights, which run monthly from 2am to 10am at the Camel Club, will continue as normal.