A pub owner has been banned from organizing community garden parties after a neighbor allegedly posed as a lawyer and forged a petition.
Darren Robinson claims he has organized just three summer events at The Wirral Hundred in Birkenhead, Merseyside, and the locals ‘loved’ them all.
He was shocked to discover a handwritten letter with typographical errors on the pub’s doorstep on August 25, claiming it reflected the views of residents who were ‘concerned about the disruption’.
The note – signed by a ‘lawyer’ – stated that the pub had ‘breached’ its license and could face a ban on live music or even have its license revoked.
Mr Robinson suspected the letter was simply a neighbor trying to scare him into stopping the parties.
The landlord admitted he thought the note had backfired as locals supported his events and Wirral Council confirmed they were not aware of a petition.
But the garden parties have since closed anyway – because the pub doesn’t have a license for outdoor music, which Mr Robinson mistakenly thought did exist.
The cafe owner was forced to cancel the outdoor event he had planned for Saturday, August 29, and has not hosted an event since.
Locals celebrate at a summer party in the garden of The Wirral Hundred in Birkenhead, Merseyside. A neighbor allegedly posed as a lawyer and forged a petition in an attempt to file a complaint
The note argued that the pub had ‘breached’ its license and could face a ban on live music or even have its license revoked.
Mr Robinson, from Birkenhead, said: ‘I was disappointed when I received that letter. It claims all houses and residents [are complaining]. I thought: ‘who? Because no one tells me.”
‘From the feedback we get and the fact that the pub is doing well and building and creating an atmosphere, everyone is happy with what we are doing.
“I just thought it was strange that anyone would be okay with doing that. Actually, they’re a bit of a bummer.”
The letter urges the pub to ‘please be considerate of local people so they can sit in their gardens’, after several garden parties were hosted at the venue.
It goes on to say that amplified music, live bands, screaming DJs, noise escaping from the pub and rowdy patrons in beer gardens can all be classified as ‘nuisance noise’.
The note warns that Robinson had better show “some respect for the local people” so that the dispute “does not have to go any further.”
The café shared the letter on Facebook with the caption: ‘To hear that there is a petition from residents to threaten the permit is a surprise and quite sad.’
Mr Robinson added: “I don’t believe there is a petition. If it were, I’d like to be there [the note writer] and say that we are not here to cause you any inconvenience or problems. We’re just here to do business.
“It’s not like we’re blaring music all day, it’s just one day and it’s actually on a main road with a field opposite.
“If the wind were to somehow move the sound into your yard, it won’t still be loud.” We’re not at the right address for anyone’s house.”
The landlord said he was surprised that the complainant had not personally come to the pub to complain.
“If people were shouting and shouting loudly with obscenities, I would totally respect that,” he added. “We would stop that and tell those people.”
Mr Robinson is adamant there is no petition and people responded to his Facebook post saying they had not complained.
Landlord Darren Robinson, pictured, was assured by the council that the petition did not exist, but the parties were closed anyway because his pub did not have the correct license
Some comments under the post pointed out the letter’s poor spelling and grammar, calling the sender “miserable” and a “Karen.”
The landlord added: “The garden parties are huge for the community and we are told it is really good. If I did something wrong, I would hold my hands up and have a chat.
“But the points they’ve made and the lies they’ve made about the petition and that people have had enough of it is not what we’re being told.”
Wirral Council said the pub ‘does not have permission under the terms of its license to play music outside – live or recorded’.
