A MAYOR who suffers from hearing loss has joined forces with a charity to encourage venues to reduce background noise.

Councillor Pete West, who is the mayor of Brighton and Hove, volunteered to raise awareness of Action on Hearing Loss‘s Speak Easy campaign which has set out to talk to restaurants, bars and cafes about noise.

Cllr West and charity volunteer Megan Gibbs visited popular restaurants including Bella Italia, Wagamama, Nandos, ASK Italian and Pizza Express.

They measured the decibel rating and assessed whether or not they felt the noise levels gave a pleasant ambience or were intrusively loud.

Cllr West said: “The Speak Easy campaign has given me a welcome way to feed back to restaurateurs the experience I have as someone living with hearing loss.

“It was disappointing to find most restaurants we visited were unnecessarily noisy, making it difficult and tiring to hold a clear conversation.

“We could, though, see simple steps that would improve this, like turning down the music, softening hard surfaces and breaking the rooms up a bit to create some quieter, more intimate spaces.

“Staff awareness training of hearing loss would help too.

“Staff were receptive to our concerns and suggestions, which was encouraging and I hope with more people expressing what they think through the campaign we might see both chain and independent restaurants choosing to make changes to become hearing-loss friendly.”

Paul Breckell, chief executive at Action on Hearing Loss, said: “We’re delighted that councillor Pete West has rallied around this campaign.

“Our research has found that noisy venues not only deter people with hearing loss from returning but also people with no hearing loss at all.

“It’s hugely encouraging to see restaurants, pubs and cafes around Brighton and Hove being so receptive to our feedback, and we look forward to working with them and other venues to improve the experience for everyone.”

For more visit actiononhearingloss.org.uk/SpeakEasy.