A sign was seen at the bar in The Roebuck in Rayleigh which said: “No drinking at the bar.
“Once served we kindly request that you move away from the bar area. Apologies for any inconvenience.”
The new rule caused a bit of mixed reaction among the customers, as one person told The Sun: “I can’t believe they’ve introduced this. Surely being stood at the bar is one of the joys of the British pub.
The Roebuck has asked customers not to stand and drink at the bar (Image: Michael Robinson)
“First ridiculous queues and now this. Standing at the bar is part of what makes the great British pub experience what it is.”
Meanwhile, retired builder Alf Spencer, 71, said: “I used to stand up at the bar but we’re told not to now.
“It’s always been a nice way to enjoy a pint and chat to the bar staff and the other locals. But I can see why they do it.”
There was some sympathy for the change as scaffolder Micky Graham, 64, said: “The real problem is, like any good English person, they see people in front of a bar and they get in line patiently.
“The issue is it gets confusing for people. It gets very busy here.”
He continued: “In a pub like this it makes sense, in a real local it’s a bad idea.”
Defending the rule, which was brought in at the start of December, the manager of The Roebuck said: “At Christmas there were 500 people here.
“We need people to move from the bar when it’s that busy. It’s not health and safety. This is for service. It is an organisational thing.”
When asked if there was backlash to the rule, the manager replied: “Oh yeah, of course.
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“It doesn’t really matter if some people are unhappy about it. We have a zero tolerance policy for abuse in our pub.”
Wetherspoons said the “no drinking at the bar” rule was common in several of its branches around the UK.
Company spokesman, Eddie Gershon, said: “We leave it up to individual managers whether to do this or not. We have no issue with it.”