'Non-compliant' Castle Donington pub denied new licence amid concerns over 'numerous' issues

A Leicestershire micropub has been denied a new licence over fears it will not comply with rules. The applicant had claimed allegations of noise disturbance and other issues had been “exaggerated” and were “misleading” in a bid to tarnish their names.

Christine Westbrook was seeking a new licence to continue operations at The Flag in Borough Street, Castle Donington, taking over the running from her partner Robert Sandham. However, officials had raised major concerns about this after Mr Sandham was declared bankrupt last year, causing the pub’s licence to lapse.

Residents also raised concerns about noise from the pub, but Ms Westbrook, speaking before North West Leicestershire District Council’s (NWLDC) Sub-Licensing Committee, claimed the issues raised were not major. She said: “The bankruptcy was nothing to do with The Flag which has been and continues to be the main source of income for us. The representation from [neighbours] is an exaggerated and misleading approach to devalue The Flag.”

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The micropub, which was also looking to run extended hours for sales of alcohol, gained its licence in 2014, but the sub-committee was told of numerous issues with the pub in those 10 years. Andrew Cooper, NWLDC’s licensing team leader, said there had been a “long list” of issues with the running of the pub.

In a detailed report, he said The Flag had “numerous” instances of unlicensed activities and non-compliance with failing to provide CCTV footage when requested. The Flag was also found to have used outdoor street furniture without consent, while they had been taken to court over failures to remove rubbish from the site.

Mr Cooper said: “In all my time and I’ve been in licensing since 2007, it does concern me that the level of monitoring [here] is disproportionate. We’re talking the size of a premises that is probably less than a double garage and we don’t have this interaction with businesses that have 300, 400, 500 capacity [or] nightclubs within the district.”

Concerns were also raised by neighbours about increased noise from The Flag, while NWLDC’s Environmental Protection Team had also recorded noise issues from a sound system inside the pub and punters outside it. Ms Westbrook said efforts to mitigate this had been undertaken.

She said the sound system - installed for the World Cup - would now not be used as they found customers “prefer to talk”. She also said all patrons would be reminded to “leave quietly” to respect neighbours, while staff would “ensure” excessive noise would not be made.

The applicant also criticised the strength of opposition against her licence plan, telling the committee that she disputed allegations of a “continued state of late night drinking, nuisance and unruly behaviour.” She said: “I really feel like our names are being tarnished by all the rumours and speculation. We’ve done so much in the village, it’s unbelievable. I think we’ve been treated unfairly by the speculations.”

Ms Westbrook even claimed that despite concerns about her partner’s involvement in the business, he would be treated “as an employee”. She said Mr Sandham would only be used for his expertise in beer, not the day-to-day running of The Flag.

However, NWLDC did not agree. Chair of the Licensing Sub-committee, Councillor John Legrys, said the panel had unanimously agreed to refuse the application. He said: “The committee has no confidence that Mr Sandham would not be having a controlling influence of the management and running of the public house.”

Coun Legrys added that the previous history of non-compliance meant councillors feared it was “likely” similar issues would continue on site. The Flag has 21 days to appeal the decision.

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