Pub near Chesterfield which opened during lockdown loses licence
A north Derbyshire pub which put people ‘at serious risk of harm’ by opening during the Covid-19 lockdown has had its licence revoked.
The Royal Volunteer, on Market Street, Clay Cross, was stripped of its licence by North East Derbyshire District Council’s licensing sub-committee.
The licence holder now has 21 days to appeal the decision, before the order comes into effect on July 31.
Duncan Mark Waring, listed as the licence holder, was invited to attend the licensing review hearing but declined to do so.
As a result the application for the licence review, which had been made by both the council’s environmental health service and licensing authority, was heard in his absence.
Environmental health officers provided evidence that the premises regularly operated outside its permitted hours when holding events and had caused a public nuisance by playing loud music.
The licence holder also failed to ensure they complied with other licence conditions which required them to prevent noise from the pub being heard at nearby addresses after midnight.
The committee also heard that previous advice and formal notices had been ignored by the licence holder about the noise nuisance being caused.
Derbyshire police provided evidence that the pub had opened on March 21, after the coronavirus lockdown regulations came into effect that day, putting customers and the wider public at serious risk of harm.
Councillor Heather Liggett, chair of the licensing committee, said: “We realise times are hard at the moment for those within the hospitality industry, but based on the evidence before us, Mr Waring has continually ignored the legislation and the conditions of his premises licence and in doing so put his own profits before the health and welfare of his customers and the residents of North East Derbyshire.
"That will not be tolerated and as a result we had no alternative but to revoke his licence.
“I would like to take this opportunity to remind those within the hospitality industry that Covid-19 has not gone away and we must all play our parts in ensuring that we follow the social distancing rules set out by the government to keep everyone safe.”