Stonehaven publican urges any Aberdeen visitors to stay away

A Stonehaven hotelier is appealing to Aberdonians not to travel to the town this weekend during the local lockdown.

Simon Cruickshank, owner of The Ship Inn and Trouper’s Bar in the town, had to close early last weekend due to antisocial behaviour by a small group who were flouting government advice on distancing.

Mr Cruickshank fears the lockdown, which prevents people from travelling outwith Aberdeen, may not be observed.

He said: “The scenes we saw last weekend, from a small minority of individuals in the town, were shocking.

“Stonehaven has always been a day trip destination of choice for those in Aberdeen on a sunny summer day and we usually welcome these visitors with open arms.

“However, we’re appealing to anyone considering breaking the local lockdown in Aberdeen not to come to the town.”

Meanwhile, a hotel included on a list of Aberdeen pubs linked to the coronavirus outbreak in the city has reopened after closing its doors briefly yesterday.

NHS Grampian published a list of venues with potential contacts to positive coronavirus cases, including the Marine Hotel in Stonehaven.

Owner Robert Lindsay at first believed this was an error, as the rest of the pubs were in the city region, but NHS Grampian insisted the information was correct.

It was later confirmed an individual who tested positive for coronavirus passed through Mr Lindsay’s doors, but their

“movement within the premises was very limited”.

Mr Lindsay believes his establishment was “caught in the cross fire” of the Aberdeen outbreak.

“It’s a surprise when you see an announcement come out from NHS Grampian but no actual information is given to you,” the 51-year-old hotelier said.

“In normal circumstances under the scheme we wouldn’t have been required to close.

“It wouldn’t have been out in the public domain and there wouldn’t have been this confusion.”

In Aberdeen John Anderson, boss of the Staging Post in Bucksburn, hit out after the council told him a customer had tested positive for Covid-19, but would not tell him when the person was on the premises.

He also criticised the council for a lack of environmental health oversight of venues and for not requesting his track and trace details to find other potential virus victims.

Mr Anderson said: “All Aberdeen City Council has told us is that someone who has been on the premises has tested positive for Covid-19, but they can’t give us any more information and won’t tell us what day or time of day it was.

“How am supposed to let staff members know they are safe?”

Other bar owners were similarly angry about a lack of contact.

An Aberdeen City Council spokesman said: “Unfortunately, due to the rapidly developing situation, it was not possible to contact the businesses before the list was published. Attempts are continuing to contact today the establishments who could not be contacted yesterday.”