Drinking alcohol at tables along the riverside in Bewdley has been banned – with landlords now fearing they will lose thousands of pounds in takings.
Pubs have been told people can no longer sit outside and drink along Severnside North after a complaint from a resident. The complaint prompted an investigation of conditions of the licences of the pubs including The Mug House and The Cock and Magpie and found they did not permit alcoholic drinks to be consumed outside.
Drew Clifford, licensee of The Mug House, said today he could lose between £6,000 and £8,000 in takings during the forthcoming regatta weekend now he has been forced to keep all drinking indoors.
He said: “I just can’t believe it. People used to love sitting outside having a pint and a cigarette.
“I have had my outside terrace for five years and there has been no problem. It will have a terrible effect on trade. We are just about to hit peak season and they do this.
“I understand that technically they are within their rights as apparently it’s part of our licence but we have had the terrace for so long it seems wrong.”
Mr Clifford said he had now been forced to take his chairs and tables indoors to stop people taking drinks outside otherwise he could have his licence taken away.
He added: “People want to go out for a smoke so how am I supposed to police this?”
Environmental health officer Mark Kay said: “There has been a complaint from a resident about noise and we looked at the licences of these pubs. The details state that they can’t drink alcohol outside. They can have tables outside for people who want to sit outside and eat or have a cigarette.
“The council does not want to stop the cafe culture. They can apply for a new licence where people can drink outside. It does not affect cafes or fish and chip shops as they do not sell alcohol.”
Pub-goer Darren Ellis said: “I have sat outside on Severnside North quite recently and had a pint. I can’t believe these do-gooders want to ruin it for everyone.”
Deputy mayor Derek Killingworth said: “I do feel sorry for Drew but there had been complaints about noise.”
14 Comments
Probably some old fuddy duddy who wants the world to go away and leave them in peace. What did they do when they were young?
“There has been a complaint from “a” resident”
Did the “complainer” live there before the pubs started trading, if not why did they buy a house in the area?
It is the tradition that hard working folk go to the country and to the rivers to relax and have a drink outside.
Another blow to the traditions of Britain.
New Labours Britain…. Rules are Rules with no “common” sense.
how long have the people who made the complaint been there?
As a British person I believe this is right, its fun sitting outside a pub smoking, drinking, chatting etc, so of course it should be banned, doesn’t this pub owner know by now that anything that’s fun in the UK has to be banned?? Silly man, why would he think that he could get away with that? It would take someone with bit of common sense to understand that due to the smoking ban, pubs now are in the process of becoming extinct.
So when visitors to Bewdley see another pub boarded up, now doubt they will be overjoyed to see its joined the ranks of the business that couldn’t survive this governments stupidity.
Surely when the licence was renewed by the local council , someone should have had the intelligence to suggest the owner also had the facility to allow patrons to drink outside.
You can go to any other European country and you will see tables and chairs outside pubs and restaurants, where people sit a relax, god why does it always take a miracle to drag this country into the present age, why do we always have to live in the stone age?
The smoking ban was a good idea that wasn’t thought out properly, why didn’t the government make pubs smoke free except for a special room, specifically for smokers, and no I don’t smoke, but I can see what damage has been done to the pub trade by the smoking ban.
Jim of Bearwood.
That really sucks!! The wife and I stayed at the Mug House during carnival and had a wonderfull week! The people outside our windows were no bother at ALL! It was nice to see everyone enjoying themselves. This is to bad Drew,fight it,do what ever it takes! I am completely behind you,signed a very happy customer Todd Wallbaum
Wyre Forest Council seem to be going out of their way to make Bewdley a ghost town !
First the ban fishing and make it a swan sanctuary and now the you cannot drink outside of a public house ! It appears that they are alienating people bit by bit ? What, or who will be next ? No prams, pushchairs, wheel chairs on the promenade ? No chips, or food to be eaten on the promenade ? No photography in Bewdley ?
So the ONE resident who complained can sit outside their residence and drink alcohol and make a noise, but the badgered licence gets all the flak again !
I’m sure the landlords of the pubs would be the first to complain if people sat opposite their establishments drinking from cans and bottles bought from the supermarket.
It’s an alcohol-free zone,you can’t have one rule for one and one for another.
This is just insane! I have lived in Bewdley for 6 years and being able to sit outside the mug house with a drink on a summers evening has always been a much loved tradition by myself and friends and nieghbours of all ages. Its part of what brings our community together. Bewdley people appreciate going to their local and meeting up with friends and it is part of the summer culture of Bewdley to sit outside with your drink when the weather is nice, no matter what age you are! Further more, I used to live in Dog lane which is at the end of Severnside North. I used to be kept awake by teenagers doing dohnuts round the car park all night and I can guarantee that the noise from either the Cock & Magpie nor the Mug ever bothered me. It seems likely that the person that made the complaint wont have lived in Bewdley for long and will have no idea how badly this will affect one of the things which we Bewdley locals look forward to every summer. I agree that there should be alcohol free zones, there is one outside my house, but Severnside north is not an alcohol free zone and in any case I wouldnt have bought or rented a house outside a pub without expecting noise! The person that has made this complaint clearly should not have moved to wherever it is they are living without expecting noise, it is after all a busy riverside town which attracts this kind of summer activity.
I hope that the council will try to help sort this matter, though I fear that the small mided do-gooder will get their own way in our increasingly human rights mad society.
C’mon Drew, put your foot Down, we’ll be right behind you.
The answer lies in the next council elections vote out the idiots who voted for this they will not be able to claim their over inflated council expenses, hit these people where it hurts in their pockets
The Mug house was not complained about.
Further, alcohol has NOT been banned on the riverbank, nor will it be.
For those of you who dont know the riverbank is an ‘alcohol restriction zone’ and has been since 2005, it is however NOT an alcohol exclusion zone, big difference, both we and the new landlords moved to the riverbank knowing this.
You ask ‘why did the complainer move there’
I retort ‘why did the landlord move into the pub when they KNEW it was a condition of their license NOT to serve alcohol for consumption on the highway and that they knew that they were not allowed to do so.
This has been blown up out of all proportion, and we find ourselves the targets of a hate campaign, but of course, several of the above comments are made by people fully aware of this.
sorry, I should have been a bit clearer…
WE have never complained about the Mug House, its customers & landlord (who seems like a thoroughly decent bloke) have never caused any disruption to us, its too far away from us to disturb us in any way.
We have now been abused openly in the street and are the targets of somewhat childish name calling & finger pointing & other infantile behaviour.
We acted with the full support of our neighbours, one of whom has had family living here for 150 years plus.
It seems to me the C&M were only mirroring the other end of the street. So you never thought that your actions would affect both pubs, the whole of Bewdley and therefore you personally? The customers of both establishments are a cross section of the whole community, including business men & Women, police, firemen etc. including the Mayor not loutish drunks. You live near a Pub on the river front and selfishly want it free of drinkers, anglers, bikers, market traders in fact people. Just you and the swans no doubt. Don’t think its going to happen, somehow do you?
The matter is now resolved to the satisfaction of publicans & residents alike.
If we hadnt been so badly misrepresented there would have been no need for the rubbish of the last week.
All we wanted was them to adhere to the promises that theyd made to us (not Drew, he’s too far from us) which they have now done.
All is good
who brought anglers, bikers and market traders into this? not us.
We dont mind the drinkers as long as they act responsibly, we drink there ourselves.
We dont mind anglers, they are our neighbours (if you know the rules on the riverside)
Bikers arent a problem, as such either… as long as they drink at the pub and dont leave glasses for toddlers to trip over on the street (which happened a month ago for your information).
We enjoy the market days too.
The matter is resolved, there really isnt any need for more of these type of inaccurate allegations.