Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s sprawling Buckinghamshire mansion has applied for an alcohol licence to serve booze during lunches and dinners.

Dorneywood House is an 18th-century private home, set in 215 acres in Burnham, which has been used by a string of former chancellors of the exchequer from Rishi Sunak to Kenneth Clarke.

Now used by Hunt, the current occupant of Number 11 Downing Street, the eight-bedroom country pile is subject to a premises licence application to Buckinghamshire Council by the Dorneywood Trust, the charity that oversees the house.

Its application reads: “The house occasionally takes bookings for away days and/or lunches or dinners where we would like to be able to provide alcohol with the meals.”

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The Trust said it did not intend to provide “off-supplies” – in other words, drinks that are bought to be consumed in the garden.

Dorneywood is located on an enclosed estate with the nearest neighbour over 100 metres away and guests will “will be reminded to leave the property quietly”, the application says.

If approved, deliveries and other noisy activities will only be carried out between the hours of 8am and 4pm, while alcohol sales will be permitted from 12pm 10pm.

The application says that staff will receive training in child safeguarding, security, and health and safety, and that the purchase of a defibrillator for the site will also be considered.

The Trust says there is a “very low chance” of crime and disorder being an issue due to the location and type of functions being held.

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It added that the licence aimed to encourage shared transport to Dorneywood, as well as closing doors and windows during colder periods, and reducing or stopping altogether the use of outdoor heating.

The consultation for the licensing application (licence number LC202401-130710) ends on February 5.

The Dorneywood house and estate were left to the National Trust in 1954 by Lord Courtauld-Thomson.

Although convention in recent years has seen the chancellor of the day use the country residence, it has previously been occupied by other well-known political figures.

Past residents include foreign secretaries Sir Anthony Eden, Sir Alec Douglas-Home and James Callaghan.

Dorneywood was also allocated to Gordon Brown in 1997 but as the then-chancellor reportedly had “little use for it”, the house then became the residence of Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott from about 1999 until May 2006.

The huge mansion sports a music room, drawing room, play room and a butlers pantry among its many rooms.