We’ve banned children from our pub and we ‘couldn’t give a toss’ what people think – they run around, cry & shout
NEW landlords have faced social media backlash after announcing kids under 14 are banned.
The Kent pub owners made the decision to keep the venue an adults-only spot as 'an ode to the glory days of the boozer.'
Mandy Keefe, 62, and John Forge, 59, gave The Wheel Inn pub in Westwell a revamp after it was closed for two years and finally welcomed its first customers last week.
The choice to ban all youngsters left the village conflicted with many taking to social media to express their concerns.
However, the defiant pair claim many locals actually support the decision to refuse kiddos.
Forge told KentOnline: "We're getting older people saying, 'Brilliant, we don't want bloody kids running about.'
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"We get people actually standing at the bar saying, 'This is great because we don't have to worry.'
"In a pub, you don't watch your language. You're drinking - you're taking a legal drug.
"You're then, at times, behaving inappropriately. Customers have said it's brilliant because they don't have to watch exactly what they're saying."
With a lack of adult-only places, the pair decided it was about time there was somewhere people could relax without worrying about constantly keeping it PG.
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They bought the venue March 2022 after it shut shop during the pandemic and the team are ready to give it a new lease of life.
They decided there was no reason for children to be there at all as they would do is 'get bored, cry, or get shouty.'
In response to the criticism, Forge said it's no skin of his back and they have no plans of bowing down to the social media storm.
He said: "I really couldn't give a toss about them because what you'll find is that they're actually hypocrites."
Some critics have labelled the decision as 'archaic' with one Westwell mother stating the pub has taken away her family's chance to get to know people in the village.
She added: "Even when my kids come 'of age', I don't get the impression they'll be welcomed with open arms.
"It will please a very small demographic, unfortunately not the future one."
Other pubgoers disagree with the critics, with one taking to Tripadvisor to relay how much they enjoyed the venue.
They wrote: "Great food. Great that there are no screaming kids under 14 years which is the reason I went. It has a more adult vibe and for that I loved it."
The controversial pub regulation was blasted on the local Facebook page, which Keefe explained was more hurtful than the criticism itself.
She said: "When the signs went up, nobody came to speak to us. Not one person.
"It's a close-knit community, and then suddenly you look on what is the village Facebook page, and you see it being slated. It's not very pleasant.
"It felt like I was being bullied into changing my mind rather than coming in the door and asking why we've done it."
The sign on the wall of the rebranded and extended pub simply states 'No children under 14 years' which was a rule implemented in all public houses up until 1995.
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Only in 2003 when a new licensing act was brought in were kids allowed to into pubs.
There is currently no law that would cover discrimination against children and as it stands Ms Keefe and Mr Forge are entitled to refuse service to whoever they choose.
