Pastor fined for noisy services

A clergyman was fined £400 by magistrates for preaching too loudly.

Francis Yeboah, an ordained Pentecostal pastor and founder of the Written Word Family Church, had denied the charge of breaching a noise abatement order imposed three years ago, and claimed that he had spent £15,000 soundproofing his church to contain the noise of his two-hour services, which involve a rock band and a choir singing gospel music.

Council officials went to the scene last November and measured the sound of a service at 74.4 decibels, the equivalent of a lorry driving past.

Mr Yeboah told the court that he had only been trying to serve God in his community and had been careful not to upset the neighbours in his street in Hove, East Sussex.

Mr Yeboah was also ordered to pay £800 costs.