Pub slams its doors shut on ‘wild animals’
‘Trusted’ regulars only after fight outside venue:
If you want to act like a wild animal our establishment doesn’t want you Sign on the door of the Famous Crown
A PUB in Didsbury has closed to the general public after concerns about drinkers turning into ‘wild animals’ outside the premises when venues reopened last weekend.
The Famous Crown, on Wilmslow Road, has restricted entry to ‘patrons they know and trust’ after it reopened on Super Saturday.
A sign on the door says the decision was made ‘due to the ridiculous behaviour of a number of people.’
“If you want to act like a wild animal our establishment doesn’t want you!,’ the signs says.
Police were called twice to the venue and a fight broke out on the street outside after they closed, manager Chris Dussie said.
He said the people involved in the fight hadn’t been in their venue and he believes they were passing by outside.
He said he believes an arrest was made.
“On Saturday, after we closed and finished serving, there was fighting outside the venue. That’s all it was.”
He said that social distancing has also been hard to regulate.
“It’s very hard to socially distance, especially after a few pints.
“Especially in this establishment, all my locals are dead friendly so they all want to hug each other. They haven’t seen each other for three months. They all come in and they have got to socially distance and things like football, United were playing weren’t they? They cheered, and I got into a bit of trouble for that.”
The council were called and ‘didn’t like the fact’ that customers were cheering when United scored, he said.
Chris said people were ‘excited’ and they were celebrating like ‘New Year’s Eve.’
He said: “It was stupid putting football on at 3pm in a pub, that is a ridiculous thing to do on a Saturday.
“It wasn’t outrageous, the police came and checked and everything was fine. They let me carry on.
“That was the story of the day. They kept checking on me and allowed me to continue. They never stopped me.
“It was a really nice day, there was nothing wrong.
“I don’t mind abiding by the rules, that is the way it is now. Obviously it’s just difficult, we have a big venue. “If we have bums on every seat, it’s 70-odd people in here. We still look like we are overcrowding when we are not.”
He said the fact that a fight broke out outside the venue ‘looks bad on (their) pub.’
Chris said the fight was nothing to do with them, and police confirmed it wasn’t their fault.
“It brings a bad reputation to us and we haven’t done it.”
He said they heard about a few fights in the south Manchester suburb when he spoke to people the next day.
“The locals came on Sunday morning and showed me the rest of Didsbury. Apparently Didsbury was a bit of a nightmare. They were making out like it was dead nice but it wasn’t.”
He said there were fights at another venue and at Aldi car park in the ‘early hours.’
Now staff have decided to restrict access to local regulars for ‘afternoon pints’ until the ‘general public have calmed down.’
He said: “I woke up the next day and I thought ‘do you know what, I’m not doing that.’
“It’s almost like a private member’s club now. They ring, they have a telephone number so they can ring and see. We are a nice place to come, my customers love it. It’s a great pub, it’s just a shame.
“I think realistically, until they drop social distancing...maybe that will be when we let people back in. Because with the rules in place, it’s not good.
“Money is bad as well, takings are bad. I’ve had to let a few of my staff go as we can’t operate. We are going to run table service and then we will see how we get on,” he added.
GMP has been contacted for comment.