Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Pull the other one! Landlord in row over late-night pub lock-in
Council officers accuse owner of ‘lying’ after holding get-together for guests ‘If I want to hold a private gathering for friends and not charge them for it, I’m completely entitled to’
A landlord has been accused of lying by licensing officers after they swooped on a lock-in at his village pub.
Shailesh Dixit, who runs The Local in Cockering Road, Chartham, had been hosting the gathering after the normal closing time of 1am following a fundraising event at the village hall.
But the get-together on October 2 was stopped when council enforcement officers showed up at 1.27am to deal with noise complaints.
Mr Dixit claims no money had changed hands with guests and it was simply a private gathering, no different to a party in his own house.
But in a damning report due to go before the licensing committee, he is accused of “fragrantly” breaching his licensing conditions and “lying” in a bid to excuse those breaches.
The officers say they found the outer door unlocked, the porch lit and beer pumps, the TV and fruit machines still switched on.
They also say music was being played loudly and there were 25 people in the pub drinking.
In a report, Tricia Jordan, of the council’s environmental health team, says Mr Dixit claimed he was operating within his permitted hours.
She said: “Mr Dixit then stated there had been a charity fundraising event for Help for Heroes at the village hall and when it ended at 11pm he invited organisers back to his pub and gave them one drink each.
“The village hall event ended more than two hours before our attendance and there were people at the bar with full or nearly full glasses.
“Subsequent inquiries revealed there was a fundraising event at the village hall, but it was run by the Chartham Sports Club to raise money for secure storage containers for the club’s equipment. None of the proceeds went to Help for Heroes, as stated by Mr Dixit.
“Mr Dixit demonstrated he does not understand his responsibilities under the Licensing Act 2003, which he is prepared to flagrantly breach and then lie to try to excuse or mitigate those breaches.”
But the landlord, who earlier this year voluntarily reduced his hours to keep neighbours happy, says it is unfair to be accused of lying.
“Every year the chairman of Chartham Sports Club, Mark Mowbrey, holds a charity function and usually it’s for Help for Heroes,” he said.
“This year he decided it would not be for Help for Heroes but to raise money for the sports club.
“We as a public house sponsor the sports club and are invited along but we couldn’t make it this year, so I said if he and the organisers would like to come back to the pub afterwards I’d get them a drink.”
Mr Dixit says he is “very aware” of the law.
“It’s my public house and I own it,” he said.
“If I want to hold a private gathering for friends and I’m not charging them for it, I’m completely entitled to.
“The only one thing that happened was the door was put in a locked position so people could go in and out freely, but someone must have left it open so when the licensing officers turned up it was unlocked.”
The licence of The Local will go under review at The Guildhall in Canterbury at 11am on Tuesday.