Crown and Anchor licence to be reviewed in light of Covid-19 outbreak

In November, the local licencing authority are to carry out a review of the licence at the Crown & Anchor after the pub was at the centre of a Covid-19 outbreak in July.

Stone’s Crown and Anchor pub went into its own lockdown during the summer after video footage appeared on social media of customers packed into its beer garden. The footage and story made national and international news and put Stone on the map for all the wrong reasons. A number of visitors to the bar were subsequently found to have tested positive for coronavirus from across the town and the wider county.

The fallout had a profound impact on the town, undoing the hard work that other publicans and businesses had put in to ensure that Stone was a safe and secure place to visit as lockdown restrictions were lifted.

Stone Town Council, whilst debating the outbreak, had asked Stafford Borough Council to review the pub’s licence as part of their endeavours to ensure that lessons were learnt from the experience.

Stafford Borough Council, the entity responsible for licencing matters, have confirmed that an application for a review of the pub’s licence was made earlier this month and a hearing will take place in November.

Anyone who wants to make a representation to the licencing authority in respect of the review needs to do so in writing by the 5th November. This can either be by mail to The Licensing Section, Stafford Borough Council, Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford, ST16 3AQ – or by email to ehlicensing@staffordbc.gov.uk

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The town’s Station Road pub was ordered to put a stringent risk assessment in place and carry out an effective deep clean throughout the premises before it was allowed to reopen.

Councillor Jonathan Price, Cabinet Member for Environment at Stafford Borough Council, said:

“The licensees and the owners were left in no doubt what their responsibilities are to their staff and patrons – and checks have been carried out to make sure they are taking all reasonable precautions to protect the health and wellbeing of anyone on their premises.”

The Borough Council made spot visits to the premises following the reopening in August to ensure all the necessary safety measures were being complied with.

The Borough Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee will be reviewing the pub’s licence at a meeting held virtually via Zoom on Monday 30 November. An agenda for the meeting will be available closer to that date.

The committee has powers to impose further conditions on the premises licence, remove a designated premises supervisor or pub manager from the licence, or could consider revoking the premises licence