Problem pub closed by council (From Streatham Guardian)
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Problem Carshalton pub closed by Sutton Council
9:28am Thursday 5th July 2012 in News
The Coach and Horses in Carshalton High Street
A problem pub has been closed after it was found to be a haven for illegal activity.
The welfare of children as young as six was put at risk by parents taking them to the Coach and Horses in Carshalton straight from school, drug taking and stolen goods sold on the premises, were raised at a meeting of Sutton Council’s licensing committee.
Officers said assaults were also common at the pub in the High Street, along with illegal lock-ins, and highly intoxicated customers being allowed to serve themselves behind the bar.
At the meeting on Monday the pubs owners, Punch Taverns, agreed to close the pub for six weeks from next Wednesday until it found new suitable tenants to run it.
Sutton Council also slapped a series of conditions on the future running of the pub.
Gary Grant, a lawyer representing the Metropolitan Police, told the hearing: “There has been a lack of appropriate management that has led to a complete lack of control of the operation.”
He said a pubgoer who had visited the establishment for 20 years said it “had gone completely to pot”, while police who visited it were met “with a uniquely hostile atmosphere”.
Mr Grant said even a designated premises supervisor, brought in as “a knight in shining armour” to improve the running of the pub, had been convicted of fraud within a month of his arrival.
Punch Taverns, who came to an agreement over the future of the pub in private meetings with the police before the hearing, agreed that the pub’s licence be revoked for six weeks.
A member of bar staff who had worked at the pub for 22 years wept as details of the closure were read out to the hearing.
A spokesman for Punch Taverns at the hearing said he was confident the pub would be turned around under new management.
Councillor Sue Stears, chairman of Sutton Council’s licensing committee, said: “It’s clear there have been some very serious problems at the Coach and Horses pub, including multiple breaches of its current licence.
“The licence holder, Punch Taverns, has had every opportunity to improve the situation, and I hope that the strict conditions we are imposing will send out the message that this lack of management will not be tolerated.”
Comments(17)
Krissi
says...
2:39pm Thu 5 Jul 12
beckysfriend
says...
3:37pm Thu 5 Jul 12
Michael Pantlin
says...
5:48pm Thu 5 Jul 12
emelem
says...
9:42am Fri 6 Jul 12
Michael Pantlin
says...
11:51am Sat 7 Jul 12
emelem wrote:The Sutton Life Centre has been looking for a role ever since it was built.
turn it into an alcohol rehab facility, paid for by those who commit crimes while drunk :)
grampsyg
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9:55pm Sat 7 Jul 12
emelem
says...
4:24am Mon 9 Jul 12
Monstermunch17
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8:42pm Mon 9 Jul 12
Bulldoze it, make into flats. Pubs should be welcoming, community hubs - when they turn inwards and become dominated by a homogenous, low-life group, the writing is on the wall.
Crease2000
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9:11pm Mon 9 Jul 12
moveawayifcould
says...
4:29pm Tue 10 Jul 12
cool20
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4:30pm Tue 10 Jul 12
beckysfriend
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6:55pm Tue 10 Jul 12
I hope not
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6:45pm Wed 11 Jul 12
Crease2000
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7:58pm Wed 11 Jul 12
"I hope not says. . .", - the place is being bashed because of undisputed reports in this paper. If the landlord feels that he is being mis-represented then perhaps you should direct him here or to the local Guardian for his side of things. In the meantime, the police and the brewery have agreed to shut the place down, so something dodgy must've been going on?
grampsyg
says...
9:18pm Wed 11 Jul 12
the old bear
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3:31pm Thu 12 Jul 12
I hope not says...
2:01pm Thu 5 Jul 12