The National Archives in Kew is applying to become a fully licensed venue, with live music and extended opening hours for the whole week.

The application seeks to allow, every day of the week, for the sale of alcohol from 12pm to 11pm, the premises to play films, live and recorded music from 9pm to 11pm, and to extend opening hours to 11.30pm.

There is currently a bar in the venue, which opens at 5pm on a Friday only, but this is and will be run separately.

When making the decision the planning committee must decide whether the change will be a “public nuisance”, cause “crime and disorder”, decrease public safety or cause harm to children.

Neighbours are not happy with the proposal and are specifically concerned with noise pollution and parking.

One said the change would be a “terrible infringement” on residents’ “daily lives, rest and sleep”.

They said: “To allow the National Archives to become a licensed premises would definitely not be of great benefit to us the residents.

“It is regretful that we must now prepare ourselves to be living in a street that will be a thoroughfare for many people in cars, on bikes, motorbikes and noisy pedestrians, far beyond the times of opening hours of the NA.

“We know the noise impact from the NA from the few events held throughout the year.

“Multiply this by every night of the week occurrences; it will be a terrible infringement to our daily lives, our rest and our sleep.”

At the moment, the NA holds only a few large events per year.

Another resident said: “When the venue has held events in the past year we can hear the music from inside our house because the National Archives building does not have sufficient sound insulation fitted to limit the impact on nearby residents.”

Parking was also an issue, with some concerned that residents would be “battling for spaces” when events are on.

The NA sent out a letter stating any changes would be “moderate” but concerns were raised that might change in the future.

If the application gets the go-ahead, residents have called for a “public meeting on their premises, to discuss the whole issue, with local councillors and the residents of our two streets”.

Responding to objections, NA has said in a letter dated February 22: “The sale or supply of alcohol will only take place outside these hours (beyond 7pm) on the odd evening if there is an event taking place where the provision of alcohol is desirable, not every event.

“Let’s be clear; there is no intention of holding events every night or turning the National Archives into some kind of entertainment venue.

“That would not fit with the purpose of the National Archives.

“However due to the difficulty in restricting artists, exhibitors and speakers to a specific day, it is necessary to licence the premises for the whole week.”

It also said the licensing plans include “only a small area” and that regardless of the application “the National Archives would be permitted to play unamplified or amplified live music from 8am until 11pm every day inside or outside the premises due to deregulatory changes to the Licensing Act 2003”.

The letter also stated the NA has “no control” over parking but that it “actively promotes the use of public transport and the majority of visitors travel in that manner”.

In response to the concerns about noise, it stated: “The National Archives have never received any complaint regarding noise from any event and in particular no noise break-out.

“However, we carefully considered all of the licensing objectives including the prevention of public nuisance with the emphasis being prevention.”

The decision will be made at a planning sub-committee meeting on March 12.