It’s a steak-out! Five police called to row over pub supper
WHEN secretary Nicola Kendal ordered her pub steak ‘medium’ and it appeared on her plate ‘very well done’, she decided to complain.
But she did not imagine her protest would result in staff at the White Hart Inn pressing a ‘panic button’ and calling the police.
And she certainly didn’t expect that at a time when many senior police officers say they face deep cuts that the local force would send five officers in two vehicles – including one resembling a ‘riot van’.
The drama at the pub in Iron Acton, south Gloucestershire, began when mother-of-two Mrs Kendal, 42, said her ‘medium’ 16oz steak was ‘very well done and tough’ and refused to pay for it.
Mrs Kendal had been offered a fresh steak, but said she declined because the rest of her table would soon be finished. But when the bill came she had still been charged £10 for the £18.95 meal.
She said: ‘We paid the rest of the bill, but I went over and said, “I’m sorry, but I am not paying anything for my meal”.
‘It went back and forth for a bit, and all of a sudden her partner said, “I’ve pressed the button, no one is leaving until police arrive”.
‘By this point I was scared and crying. I just couldn’t understand what was happening.’
Mrs Kendal – who was eating with her partner, two friends and their child – said she reluctantly paid up when the police arrived because she was threatened with arrest if she did not settle the bill. She said: ‘I was just so shaken. I eventually paid the money so I could just get out of there. My partner and my friends were horrified by the situation.’
But landlady Joanne Keane said: ‘She was rude to my young staff and we called the police because it was a situation I couldn’t control.
‘We have been in the pub for five years and this is the first time I have had to call police in. I have never had someone go off like that.’ Police confirmed a car and a ‘response van’ were sent to the pub at 9.35pm last Thursday after a ‘personal attack alarm’ was pressed. They also said they spoke to pub staff who said customers were acting aggressively.
A spokesman said: ‘We respond based on the information we receive and so the incident was graded as one requiring an immediate response. We didn’t know how many customers were involved or what threat they posed.’ Three officers who arrived first dealt with the incident and found no crime had been committed. The police had all left shortly after 10pm. The spokesman said non-payment of a bill was a civil matter and not one for the police.
Pub owner Greene King said: ‘A decision was made to contact police as the manager felt it was the only way to resolve the situation.’