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Some pubs not family friendly, children not welcome

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I have a gripe about family rooms in pubs.  I was due to meet my friends for lunch as one of them was celebrating their birthday.  I had my thirteen-year-old As pergers boy with me and to be honest, I am very disappointed by the way the bar staff treated us.

I was told that I had to leave because of my child

The barmaid at the pub told me that I had to sit in the family room with him to eat my meal, which was fine and I was quite happy to do this.  I then went to get my friend and I a drink to celebrate her birthday and was told that I had to leave because I had finished my meal.  She said that I couldn't have a drink because my son was with me and it was due to the licensing laws.  We had to leave, even though he was not having a drink or eating; it made no difference that he was just sat quietly next to me playing a gameboy.

Children in pubs - Having a meal in the family room at a family friendly pub Not only that, when I went back to tell my friends and politely take my leave, she came up to me again and insisted that I leave the bar.  It felt as though I was being thrown out just because I dared to have a child with me!  I don't know if this kind of thing is quite common or not, but I couldn't see the problem as I was the parent and he wasn't even having a drink let alone alcohol. Why was he not allowed to just sit by me?  If he'd been a toddler, would we have been treated in the same manner?

Also, it was extremely embarrassing to be told to leave the way that I was.  Needless to say neither I, nor my friends will ever visit that pub again and I would like to know exactly what the licensing law does say about this matter.

For example, in a restaurant you wouldn't expect to be kicked out as soon as you had eaten would you?  In some pub chains such as Brewers Fayre, you can have a meal and a drink with family and not be immediately evicted as soon as you'd finished.  I thought that this was the whole idea of family rooms?


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Niceguy

Niceguy

It's a pub, not a creche with a licence to sell alcohol
13/09 Niceguy
-3
Niceguy

Niceguy

Are we talking about pubs or creches with an alcohol licence?
28/08 Niceguy
1
Niceguy

Niceguy

I recently went into a city centre pub which is a typical back street boozer, 8 cask ales etc. I asked the staff if I could use my ecig, "sure they said, no problem" I was minding my own business with a pint and an occasional vape when a loud voice said " don't use that thing in here, we've got our kids with us" Turning I saw 2 parents ( a term used loosely ) with 2 kids in push chairs. I advised them that I had asked and was told it was ok to use it. They didn't care so I asked them were they aware that they were in licensed premises and not a creche with an alcohol licence . They stormed out, apparently you can take your little condom failures anywhere and we have to put up with it
01/04 Niceguy
1
Ban em all

Ban em all

Shock horror, parents asked to control their ill behaved little shits, whatever next
28/05/23 Ban em all
5
Sam

Sam

When I go to a pub I go for adult company and conversation not to listen to someone else's screaming kids.Take them to the park or a fast food restuarants. .I promise to stay away from those places if you keep your kids out of adult places...
16/03/20 Sam
6
LancashireLass

LancashireLass

Bob Eastwick i totally agree with you, only recently my friend and I went shopping on a Sunday afternoon and decided to have a sneaky glass of a Wine at one of the pubs in town I could not believe my eyes when I saw a handful of fathers supping pint after pint whilst their brood of kids treated the pub as a playground not only was it irresponsible of the fathers but dangerous for the child. I got the impression that it was daddy's turn to mind the kids but obviously didn't want to so instead of taking them to a nice park so their little darlings could run riot with other little darlings he took them the pub instead. All my friend and I wanted was a nice quiet drink in a adult environment, no such look in that department. Pubs should be adult places only and we should return to the days of nobody under a certain age aloud in a alcohol serving establishment.
21/10/14 LancashireLass
5
Bob Eastwick

Bob Eastwick

Children should never have been allowed into pubs in the first place. Years ago, many pubs had family rooms where you could leave the children to play. They were never, ever allowed in the bar. Even today, I believe it is still an offence for a child to be within 12 feet of the bar but how many pubs enforce this? If only someone could produce a list or web site showing all the child-free pubs in the U.K. There is a site for B & Bs and hotels so why not pubs?
21/10/14 Bob Eastwick
2
MALLY

MALLY

QUITE RIGHT TOO , WHEN I GO FOR A QUIET DRINK , I DONT WANT TO PUT UP WITH OTHER PEOPLES KIDS ,,
03/01/14 MALLY
6
ally

ally

It'd selfish to take kids in pubs: selfish toward other customers, selfish toward your kids. Take your kid to macdonalds and let adults have a pint in peace. If you want a beer, get a sitter!!
27/05/13 ally
6
ahforfoulkessake

ahforfoulkessake

i hate noisy kids in public and want to slap their parents sometimes. they dont seem to realise that it annoys others.
there was a time when the pub was one place a single bloke or couple could go without children there.
Some pubs have a no children after 6.30pm rule so that they leave at a reasonable time.
24/05/13 ahforfoulkessake
3
grumpyoldwoman

grumpyoldwoman

jack, if you put on live music with appeal to your customers, tribute bands and classic rock bands, then I would say definitely yes.

I'd be there for a boogie anyway!
03/02/13 grumpyoldwoman
-6
jack the hat

jack the hat

If I won the lottery say enough to buy a pub, If I said no persons under 25, would I have any customers? Is there in this day & age any room for pubs with no children....
02/02/13 jack the hat
7
Emzzz

Emzzz

Fed up of pubs turning into a kindergarten for parents to take their kids and leave them to run riot and run around screaming. Who wants to go to a pub and be surrounded by that? We go to a pub to relax, it's an adults place NOT FOR KIDS - GET THEM OUT! A pub isn't for children, it's for over 18's.
10/10/12 Emzzz
13
Discord

Discord

Where have you been? Wetherspoons have had this policy in place for ages; and it's not to penalise parents, just to stop kids running around annoying other patrons and also to protect the kids from being forced to remain and watch their parents swilling back the booze. If you don't like this policy, then stay away and drink a bottle of wine at home or something.

Pubs where I live as a rule have a "no under 21s" policy that is entirely due to irresponsible parents bringing their badly behaved brats into the pub. The very people who whine and cry about the policy are the people who forced it to be implemented.

When I go to a pub, I'm not going to censor myself just cuz there are snotty nosed brats there. They shouldn't be there cuz the pub is for adults. I don't go to the adventure playground and sink a bottle of vodka while loudly discussing my s*x life; therefore, parents should keep kids out of the pub til they're old enough to be there. If you want to have a drink, either pay for a sitter and go out or stay home with a bottle of wine. Not hard.
19/09/12 Discord
17
milia

milia

I refuse to give my hard earned money to any pub so all win for me. so what if they don't want my child there, I DON'T WANT MY CHILD THERE and really neither should any parent. the only places I will take my child to are the classier places with genuinly nice people and no chavs pulling out there last handfull of 2's and 1's out to go halves on a half lager lol
15/09/12 milia
-10

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