A wild pub known for its Ibiza-like nights has had its trading hours cut and live music licence revoked due to numerous complaints about anti-social behaviour and noise nuisance.
The Ruthin Castle pub in Mold, North Wales, faced a review of its premises licence by Flintshire Council's sub-licensing committee after the police, town council, residents and the authority raised several issues about the venue. The pub was found guilty of licensing failures related to crime and disorder prevention, public safety, and noise nuisance prevention, which sometimes extended into the early morning hours, reports North Wales Live.
The most recent tenants closed and left the pub on September 1, and it has not reopened since. Gemma Potter, the council's licensing team leader, said she first became aware of problems in April when reports of anti-social behaviour, noise and litter began to surface, and this continued until August. Live and recorded music and karaoke were also problematic, and despite an action plan being put in place to address these issues, it did not succeed.
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Ms Potter expressed: "The contents of the complaints worsened and residents expressed an inability to fully enjoy being in their homes, particularly on weekends and evenings into the early hours of morning. Every effort was made to engage with the premises management and pub company."
She added: "In order to avoid following certain aspects of the plan put in place they (the tenants) had fashioned a fence panel to the rear of the premises into a gate through which access was being allowed after the agreed times with no regard to the safety of those entering and exiting. CCTV didn't cover that area of the premises nor the alleyway customers were being permitted to enter and exit from."
"Customers also exited in this manner to fight with one or another away from the visibility from those managing the premises or acting in a security role. Those employed in a security role at the premises were assisting in admitting customers through the fence panel."
It was noted that officers were not given access to CCTV and it was felt the licensing requirements had been undermined. The Ruthin Castle Pub is one of thousands of tenanted pubs owned by EI, which was purchased by Stonegate.
The tenant runs the pub in lieu of rent but Stonegate EI is responsible for the pub running lawfully and in accordance with licensing. Stonegate representatives apologised and put forward alternative opening hours and conditions at the meeting in a bid to be able to reopen the pub in the future.
Richard Taylor, solicitor for Stonegate, said: "We appear here today embarrassed and with an apology to all of those affected by the failure to deal with the issues highlighted. We accept we left Gemma [Potter] with no place to go, the only option was to launch review proceedings."
"We don't take issue with anything said in the review papers. What is clear here is these aren't problem premises, residents have been very clear the issue started in April."
"What we've got is a good pub that operated without difficulty but things went drastically wrong. There was a failure of communication for things to go up the chain here."
"When Mr Wright [Paul Wright, the licensing director] became involved he ordered the tenancy to be forfeited and the pub closed. We want everyone to be confident that the people we are seeking to operate the premises as new tenants are going to operate it in a manner that is acceptable."
Cllr Richard Lloyd from Saltney Ferry praised the company for admitting its mistakes but wondered why they hadn't acted sooner. Mr Wright explained that poor hiring practices and a neglectful area manager were to blame, but assured everyone that "that matter has been dealt with".
Cllr Lloyd expressed his support for keeping pubs open, saying it would be a real loss if one closed down. He added: "It's a pub and not a nightclub, and to me it turned into a nightclub, let's have it remain as a pub".
Local resident Phillip Jones, who has lived next door for 20 years, said locals didn't want an empty pub, but rather wanted it to "see it go back to how it used to be, run as a family pub". He described the situation as being like a wild holiday, with "It was the anti-social behaviour still going on until 3am, people still coming out of the pub intoxicated. It was like being in Ibiza on holiday, a Club 18-30 type of thing."
Charlotte Carr, representing North Wales Police's licensing officer, reported that all incidents, including a bottling incident, occurred in the early hours. After discussions, committee chair Cllr Rosetta Dolphin announced the new licensing conditions for the premises.
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