A pub landlord says a curfew crackdown by council enforcers on the late night outdoor pavement seating could kill off many city centre pubs.
Bristol City Council licensing officers have been visiting pubs in the Old City area of Bristol around Corn Street and St Nicholas Street, warning they will be visited by enforcement teams if they don’t bring all their customers inside by 10.30pm and remove the tables and chairs by 11pm each night.
The move has come as a shock to many pub landlords and owners in the city centre, who said they have been operating late into the evening with no complaints for years.
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And there was further concern that, if the curfew was enforced consistently across the city centre, it could sound the death knell for some of the pubs and bars in King Street, one of the key areas for Bristol’s late night economy.
Mark Griffiths runs two pubs in the Old City around St Nick’s Market - the Mother’s Ruin and the Crown Inn. He said he was shocked when he was visited by council officials this week, warning him that enforcement action - and even fines - could be issued against him unless he brings his customers inside by 10.30pm every night.
The Mother’s Ruin is open until 2am each night, and like many pubs in the historic core of Bristol’s Old City, for years both pubs have had tables and chairs outside until they close. Mr Griffiths said it was only in the aftermath of Covid that the council began making pubs obtain licences for having outdoor seating, and the timings always mirrored the opening hours of the pubs.
But this week, council officers told him the new pavement licences have a curfew, and for the first time they are going to enforce it. In an email sent to Mr Griffiths, one council official told him all the pubs and bars in the street would have to abide by the same rule.
“I have spoken to other premises along St Nicholas Street, except one due to it not being open but I will return when it is open to give them the same advice and guidance, so everyone is abiding by the same pavement licence guidelines,” they wrote. “We have officers who work out of hours during the weekend, so they will also be patrolling along St Nicholas Street to ensure that the guidelines are being adhered to.”
Mr Griffiths said he was shocked to discover the licence he’s been holding had different hours to his opening hours, and said this would affect his, and other pubs', businesses.
“We never used to even need any kind of licence. For centuries pubs in the Old City have had tables and chairs outside,” he said. “Some of the ones in newer buildings down by the Harbourside are on privately-owned land, so they aren’t affected, but there are a lot of pubs and bars in the old part of town that have tables and chairs outside and rely on this.
“When Covid happened and other pubs all over the city wanted to use parking spaces in the road as outdoor areas, that was great, and it was allowed for a while, but then the council stopped that and began to make those pubs get rid of them again.
“At that time, they started saying we had to have licences to have tables and chairs on the pavement, and that’s fine - I don’t mind, because I can see it needs regulating. But when they did, they asked us what hours we open and that was it.
“Now they are saying the licences they’ve been issuing have different times, and there’s a limit of 10.30pm. This is going to badly affect my pubs and a lot of other pubs too. It’s such an insane thing and I don’t understand the logic of it,” he added. "They are saying the times have always been different, but that's not the case. They've changed the goalposts without telling anyone, and now they are enforcing it."
Mr Griffiths said all the landlords and pub managers in the Old City were sharing their own experiences of the council’s licensing visits, and there have been fears about King Street - which is lined with historic pubs that have large permanent seating areas outside their premises that are open and used into the early hours.
Bristol Live understands that the area in front of many of the pubs in King Street is designated by the council as ‘beer garden’, so would be unaffected by the latest crackdown. However, even though the long term plan for King Street is full pedestrianisation to support the late night economy there, not all of the pubs’ pavement seating areas are protected by that designation.
All of the pubs visited by Bristol Live on King Street on Tuesday afternoon had heard of the crackdown involving their neighbours in the nearby St Nick’s area, but none had been visited themselves by council officers.
“I’m hoping the council will see sense with this. They have to have a level playing field for everyone, but if this will be an economic disaster for the pubs up here if they go through and start enforcing it,” said Mr Griffiths.
Bristol Live has asked Bristol City Council about the situation, and is awaiting a response.
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