Learning the highway code

The unseasonal weather may be excellent for pubs under the financial cosh, but true to form I can always see the dark side! Now more than ever, what goes on outside the pub is in the spotlight.

There has always been a great tradition for photographing the British pub in sunshine, with happy drinkers milling around picnic tables in front of a flower-covered frontage.

What those pictures do not show are the technical and legal problems associated with letting your customers spill out on to the highway or, even worse, converse loudly with each other within earshot of the neighbours.

This comes to mind because of the attempt by Reading Council to corral smokers into special licensed areas, with approved barriers to delineate the space they use, a "no-drinks" rule and a permanent security man to keep order.

Coming hard on the heels of the Oldham queuing system, which was in the news recently, it seems to me that the authorities are trying to turn pubs into bus stations.

Soon, you will need a punched ticket just to book your space at the bar!

This regimentation of what up until now has been a casual social venue where you can relax seems to be part of the general attack on pubs. But, as I commented last week, the problem is that the innocent are being targeted along with the guilty minority.

And certain sections of the press, together with Westminster Council, predictably, are still banging on about "24-hour drinking" when even the published licensing statistics show that this is a myth and that the majority of those with around-the-clock licences are hotels, where it was always legal anyway — nothing to do with the new licensing laws.

But in spite of the publicity, there are still pub licensees who think that putting tables and chairs outside can be done without any concern for the legal implications.

It is fine if they stay within the bounds of the pub property, but if these go on the public highway, then the local authority will sit up and take notice.

It would pay you to find out what the "curtilage" of the building actually is. Pubs have been around for so long that even local councils may be unsure of what constitutes the highway and what is either technically or traditionally part of the surrounding area of the pub itself. In some city centres, there are brass studs on the pavement.

Certainly, there is overlap, where the highways department has paved beyond what actually constitutes their responsibility, in order to achieve continuity.

Due to the turnover in pub ownership and management, the current incumbent may not be aware of the paperwork or negotiation that took place.

The estates department of the pubco may be able to help, but after that it is down to the town hall to ask the planners what actually is yours and what is theirs.

As I have said, they may not even know for sure, but it could be operationally and financially important to find out.

The reason is that if you put you alfresco picnic set on any section of the highway, you can either be told to take it off or have to pay a hefty licence fee for the privilege.

In some areas there is a little leeway, but in towns and cities there is an established tariff for trading on the street, together with conditions as to use and requirements for overnight removal.

So if the weather stays as good as it has been, check out your squatters' rights before you go for that tempting garden furniture advertised later in this issue.