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THE Environmental Protection Department is likely to take legal action against Hong Kong Stadium managers Wembley International tomorrow, after an unacceptably noisy Canto-pop concert at the venue on Friday night.

  The performance by Alan Tam Wing-lun was the first in a series of three concerts, with the second taking place last night and another planned for tonight.

  Residents and legislators accused the Urban Council, which yesterday allowed the series to continue despite the high noise levels on Friday, of flouting the law. They claimed the body had broken a promise made last week to cancel the series if the concert was too loud.

  To add to residents' outrage, noise levels at last night's concert again exceeded the limits set in the Noise Control Ordinance.

  Police received 31 complaints from neighbours, and monitoring revealed noise levels ranging from 67 to 72 decibels. The legal limit is 65.

  United Democrats environment spokesman, the Reverend Fung Chi-wood, sharply criticised the decision to go ahead with last night's concert.

  ''They [the Urban Council] are turning a blind eye to the rule of law,'' he said. ''It is totally unacceptable for a public organisation to allow an illegal offence to continue. This is a very dangerous precedent.''   He charged the council with putting financial considerations above the law - the body may have had to compensate the promoters if the event was cancelled.

  ''The council and Wembley International are just pushing the ball into each other's courts. When Wembley go to court, they can defend themselves by saying the Urban Council endorsed the decision,'' he said.

  Authorities received a total of 117 complaints after Friday's concert, the highest number since the stadium opened last month.

  But Urban Council chairman Ronald Leung Ding-bong said the breach did not constitute a serious offence. ''It's like a speeding driver. If a car over-speeds for one kilometre, it doesn't mean there must be a traffic accident,'' he said.

  In an extraordinary meeting yesterday, 18 out of 21 councillors voted in favour of the concerts going ahead, saying the Urban Council might have to pay the promoters millions of dollars in compensation if they cancelled the event. ''This was one of the most important considerations,'' Mr Leung admitted.

  Three councillors - Wong Shui-lai, Man Sai-cheong and Ma Lee-wo - abstained.

  It is estimated the Council could have been liable for up to $14 million - the value of the 69,000 tickets sold.

  As a result of yesterday's decision, Wembley International faces a maximum penalty of $50,000 - the fine for a first offence. Subsequent violations are liable to fines of $100,000.

  The Environmental Protection Department is expected to issue a court summons to the company tomorrow. The Urban Council, on the other hand, is free of all liability.

  In justifying the decision to go ahead yesterday, councillors also said they were worried there would be public disorder if the concert was cancelled.

  ''Some fans are very crazy, there may have been riots, we wouldn't want to see that happen,'' said councillor Ip Kwok-chung.

  The Urban Council's action also won the approval of the Government. ''I believe that it is a reasonable and cautious decision,'' Secretary for Recreation and Culture James So Yiu-cho said.

  However, residents representative Liu Wing-ting was not so sure: ''We will suffer from the noise and Alan Tam's fans will suffer from bad sound volume in the concert.''   He said as long as the noise problem continued, the residents would complain.



Urban Council criticised for allowing Tam concerts