'Bitter pill to swallow': Landlord's anger after drinkers sneak in booze

A city landlord said customers sneaking booze into his pub has been "a bitter pill to swallow" having been shut for six months. 

Phil Cutter of the Murderers reopened on Monday to the delight of his loyal customers - however just a day later found people sneaking their own cans onto the premises. 

He said: "It's a bitter pill to swallow when you've been shut for six months and you've got people sneaking four packs in. It looks like someone either nabbed a glass from another table or ordered an initial drink and were filling themselves up in between while watching the football.

"I've got a commitment to my pub - to serve my customers and to pay my staff and suppliers. I can't keep people employed if customers are sneaking in their own beers."

He added that the issue of people hiding their own drinks in the pub has always been a problem - but one which he hopes won't persist.

"We've lost tens of thousands of pounds in the past year and we really need people's support. You just expect a level of decency after the year we've had. 

"This sort of thing is the exception not the rule for the vast majority of our customers and I really hope we won't see any more of it," he said. 

"It's even worse when we've forked out for Sky and BT passes so we can show specific events we know our customers will want to watch. It's expensive as it is. 

"The other thing is of course that the people bringing in their own booze are taking spots away from people who tried to book or couldn't get in - and would've done the decent thing and purchased a drink. We're only open at a third of capacity as it is and there are plenty of people keen to come back," he added.