Seating complaint costs pub £6,000

Philip Cutter, of the Gardeners Arms (known locally as the Murderers), has now retained the right to maintain the seating area following a council ruling last month, but does not believe the matter is over.

The local council imposed a condition on the pub in February that its staff must ensure customers outside are seated after David Foskett, who manages the opticians opposite, said noisy drinkers intimidated his staff and customers.

Foskett produced CCTV footage and tape recordings at the hearing of the city council’s regulatory committee, which he claimed showed evidence of intimidating behaviour towards his staff and customers.

However, the committee agreed to grant the pub a licence for eight tables and 24 chairs, with conditions including that they must not be placed near doors.

They noted there had been breaches of the existing licence, but said they did not feel the noise created by people drinking outside the pub constituted a nuisance.

“This is regrettable because I have been trading at the pub for the last 24 years and I have never had a problem with any of our neighbouring businesses,” said Cutter. “We have tried several times to negotiate with the optician, but he has never sat down with us.

“We had 12 other local businesses supporting our case, which for a matter such as table and chairs is unprecedented. We’ve had to spend an extra £6,000 on door staff for Fridays and Saturdays simply to make sure people are not standing up.”

Foskett was unavailable for comment.