Pint-row landlords in vow to fight on

Landlord Pete Gibson pictured leaving the Junction Inn pub

Relief manager running pub
THE landlords of a Royton pub have vowed to take their alleged fight over “too full” pints to the top.

Staff and customers were left stunned after one of the owners of Samuel Smith’s brewery shut down the Junction Inn pub at 8.30pm on New Year’s Eve.

This follows a long-running row over the size of the head served on pints in the pub.

It is claimed the couple were told by the brewery they must pour drinks which are 95 per cent liquid and 5 per cent head.

But licensee Debbie Gibson (47) and her husband Pete (48) serve pints with the size of head customers want.

They were suspended on full pay on New Year’s Eve and remain so.

It is alleged they were threatened with being locked in at the pub, which also serves as their home, but have instead agreed to open up every day for a relief manager as long as they do not enter the trading area.

The couple’s daughter Lisa Hunt said solicitors have been brought in to resolve the matter with a meeting set to take place on January 17.

She said Trading Standards told her it was illegal to demand that pubs serve a 5 per cent head.

She said: “It’s ridiculous, if you went to a shop for a pint of milk and it was half empty, you’d shout about it.

“If you pay for a gallon of petrol you should get a gallon of petrol, so why is it any different with a pint?

“My parents are standing their ground and are determined to fight it.

“They have Trading Standards on their side and their solicitor is meeting the brewery later this month to resolve the matter.”

The Junction Inn has a letter from Trading Standards North West stating that it may be an offence to refuse a customer’s request for a pint of more than 95 per cent liquid.

Lisa said the stress of the long-running row is affecting her parents and could see them lose their home as well as their livelihood.

She said: “At the end of the day, the law says you can give up to 5 per cent head on a pint.

“But what the brewery isn’t saying is if the customer wants it topping up, you have to.”

No one from Samuel Smith Brewery, based in Tadcaster, North Yorkshire, was available for comment.