A bar has purposefully set its beer prices high to “get rid of clientele” such as lads on a session, in an attempt to entice in “premium drinkers ”.
Dovecot, in Middlesbrough, has applied for planning permission to replace disabled car parking spaces nearby with a new summer house.
In the meantime owner Carl Blake is looking to extend the beer garden, but is planning to avoid rowdy drinkers using the premises, Teesside Live reported.
He said: “We don’t want the social club crowd that wants cheap beer.
“Our cheapest pint is £4.40 so we get rid of that type of clientele, we don’t do Carling, we don’t do Fosters.
“I don’t want it to come across as it’s going to be a free for all Oktoberfest-style outdoor area because that’s not what we are looking for.
“We are expensive, we are premium, everything we do is premium, so we look for that high-end clientele.
"That’s what we are looking for.
“We would rather have a couple of ladies who have been shopping in the town and stopping in for a bottle of wine rather than a group of lads on a session.
“In this area, we have a lot of places where you can go and get sozzled but we don’t have a lot of places where you can go out as a couple and enjoy it.”
The plans to avoid some types of drinkers was not appreciated by some people who suggested in the current economic climate businesses can ill afford to pick and choose.
One unhappy social media user said: “£4.40 so we get rid of that type of clientele?
“Wow! Just wow, grab what you can this day and age pal ‘cause things about to get a lot lot worse.”
Another added: “Disgusting attitude.
“This snob deserves to have no customers. I wouldn't go there even though I could afford to.”
Another said: “He says Middlesbrough needs this, then he doesn’t want that clientele.
“He does realise Middlesbrough is a working class town and the majority is ‘that clientele’.
“I hope he goes bust, the clown.”
Mr Blake has also submitted a licensing application to cover the outdoor space and extend the bar’s opening hours on weeknights so that it can hold late-night private functions
But the owner had been questioning whether he should be ploughing money into the area following a number of recent break-ins.
He added: “We have an awful lot of problems at the minute.
“It’s dreadful, we have had two break-ins, a car broken into so even though we are spending money on the area, you are still thinking to yourself, am I doing the right thing?”
