Preston pub’s demise confirmed

A Preston pub that was temporarily shut down after a mass brawl left a man with a suspected fractured skull will not reopen – and is set to be converted into bedsits.

The Wellfield Arms, in Plungington, was ordered to shut its doors for almost two months in March last year.

Councillors imposed the sanction after being played footage of a large-scale fight which had begun inside the venue before spilling out onto the street.

The Adelphi Street premises had voluntarily closed in the wake of the incident – on 5th February, 2023 – in which a man suffered what Lancashire Police described as “significant bleeding”. He had been hit in the head with a glass and apparently knocked out, while two other men suffered facial injuries which also required hospital treatment.

The force had initially wanted the pub’s licence revoked, but Preston City Council’s licensing sub-committee instead demanded an extension to the closure period – and set strict rules about how the hostelry must operate when it eventually reopened.

However, that day never came – and now it is unlikely it ever will, as an application has been lodged to turn the ground floor of the building into a four-bedroomed house in multiple occupation.

The operator of the single-room pub – which was known for a time as Stacey’s – has told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it had already planned to sell the venue before its run-in with the licensing authorities.

Gary Roberts, operations director for Blackpool-based Amber Taverns, said:  “As a pub, it was too small to be financially viable.  Most of the other similar-sized [pub] properties in the area have been converted to bedsits or flats.

“We are still very committed to opening and trading pubs, but they must be financially viable. We have two other pubs close by [to the Wellfield] and have warmly welcomed the former regulars.”

Excluded from their number are the “yobbos” whom solicitor Andy Grimsey, representing Amber Taverns, told last year’s licensing hearing had been the source of the trouble at The Wellfield.

He said they would have been put off by the new 11pm closing time that had been imposed on the venue by the three-strong panel of councillors.    Prior to the incident, The Wellfield had been able to trade until 1am most nights and 1.30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

The meeting heard evidence from Lancashire Police that there had been 30 violence-related callouts to the premises since 2009 – triple the average for pubs in the Plungington area – and 190 police responses in total over the period, double what would have usually been expected.  However, the problems were said to have accelerated from 2021.

At the licensing hearing, Mr. Grimsey said Amber Taverns condemned the “shocking” violence that had resulted in The Wellfield’s closure, but stressed that its business model involved entering into an operator’s agreement with the individuals who actually run its pubs – meaning they are self-employed, act as the designated premises supervisor for their venue and enjoy a level of autonomy.