Early last orders puts pub staff in the firing line, landlords warn
Landlords foresee angry customers, rule-breaking, and risky behaviour
IT WILL be last orders by 9.30pm and all out by 10pm in pubs across Portsmouth under the government’s new curfew – and landlords foresee it causing lock-ins, reduced staff hours, and even increased Covid-19 infections.
On Tuesday, the prime minister Boris Johnson announced that pubs across England will need to close by 10pm as of today, in an effort to curtail the spread of the coronavirus outbreak.
Landlords across Portsmouth have met the announcement with a can-do attitude – but also raised concerns ranging from staff safety to illegal lock-ins.
While pubs are used to dealing with rowdy customers, staff are now in ‘a vulnerable position’ having to enforce government policy, according Skye Eadon, assistant manager of The Honest Politician in Elm Grove, Southsea.
She said: ‘We are open until 12:30am on Fridays and Saturdays, and we do get a fair amount of people in.
‘Calling last orders at 9.30pm, no one wants to hear that – a lot of people are going to be quiet angry and it’s going to leave staff in a vulnerable position.
‘It’s going to be difficult to kick people out, people already don’t like the social bubble situation.
‘I feel it’s been a bit backward – this curfew is what they should have done first after lockdown.’
And patrons looking to continue drinking may venture on to less Covid-secure premises, according to a spokesman for T W
Assets, which owns and runs five pubs in the city, including The Wellington in Old Portsmouth and The Kings in Albert Road.
The spokesman said: ‘I think it will be worse because we are monitoring people and we are enforcing rules.
‘All people will do is go around another person’s house and have a party there, and the knock-on effect will be neighbours calling the police.’
Landlords are already hearing reports of pubs not being able to enforce social distancing rules – and even pubs deliberately breaking previous lockdown rules, according to Paul Taylor, landlord of The Rose In June.
He said: ‘The biggest thing for me is that all the pubs need to start following the guidelines.
‘There have been a few pubs where the council have had to go in and close them down over night.
‘For the pubs that are sticking to the rules, it;’s not fair.’
THE News launched our Love Your Local campaign to celebrate all that is good about local community pubs.
We believe they are an essential hub for residents and that communities suffer when they shut down.
We want you to tell us what’s great about your local. Let us know and we will feature the best ones in The News.
We are urging people to support community pubs – and explaining how they can help – and we also use this page to report on developments in breweries and across the industry as a whole. We’re also calling on councils to adopt policies that protect local pubs.
If you love your local, call on (023) 9262 2118 or email newsdesk@thenews.co.uk