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news
Gatorade Team Sky Green BottleStaff at Suffolk pub allegedly abused cyclists after refusing to fill their water bottles
Staff at a pub in Suffolk are alleged to have been abusive to cyclists who had stopped there for a drink and a snack and asked them to leave the premises after refusing to fill cyclists’ water bottles – in apparent contravention of legislation that requires all licensed premises in England & Wales to provide free tap water.
The claims, against the The Golden Boar in Freckenham, Suffolk, were made on the forum of the UK’s largest cycling club, Dulwich Paragon, by one of its members, Arthur Tye.
On Sunday, he wrote: “Just had a hell of an experience at 'The Golden Boar' in Freckenham and felt the need to share.
“Riding from north Norfolk back home to Cambridge after a weekend tour with friends we stopped at 'The Golden Boar' in Freckenham to have a quick snack and refresh.
“After buying a round of drinks and bar snacks they refused to fill our water bottles at the bar 'unless we spent £50 on food'. Slightly bemused we went outside to consume what we had bought.
“A female cyclist in the group saw one of the kitchen staff walking past outside and slightly cheekily asked if they could fill our bottles, which they gladly obliged.
“The angry and abusive manager, along with his barman, 'caught' her with the full water bottles, took them off her, pouring the water on the floor in front of her, and demanded that we leave their property.”
He continued: “The tale goes on, their action was so abusive I actually called the police.
"They were heard to say 'bloody cyclists don't even pay road tax', 'that ginger twat' and 'she's lucky I didn't hit her', among other comments. The worst customer service I have ever experienced.
He added: “The kitchen staff seemed nice enough though, I'm sure the food is lovely.
“I know Dulwich is a good few miles away from here, but some of you cover some decent distance,” he concluded.
The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010 provides that “the responsible person” – that is, the licensee, supervisor or a person authorised by them – “shall ensure that free tap water is provided on request to customers where it is reasonably available."
The requirement was one of a range of measures brought in under that legislation in an attempt to curb so-called binge-drinking.
There is no stipulation in the legislation that the water must be consumed on the premises, nor does it exclude customers providing their own receptacles for it.
However, while police correctly pointed out that the manager of a licensed premises could ask customers to leave, they also sided with the pub management regarding the provision – or non-provision, in this case – of water, according to Mr Tye.
In a reply to a comment on his post, he said: “Police said that they were within their rights to ask anybody they wished to leave their property at any time, and that they were under no obligation to provide us with tap water.”
We have asked the Golden Boar for a comment regarding the alleged incident.
Last month we reported how a woman in Yorkshire who filled up a water bottle after being asked to do so by a passing cyclist tipped out the contents when he was unable to pay the £3 she asked him to pay for it.
– Woman charges cyclist £3 after filling water bottle - then tips it out when he can't pay
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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37 comments
On the flipside of this, if you're ever near South Harting in West Sussex the White Hart pub is incredibly friendly. They filled our bottles without us even asking, even added some ice. Has a bike rack out the back and it's just off the route of the South Downs Way.
This is one of those stories where everyone's a loser.
strange considering how close Thetford & Mildenhall is, since the forest rides & cycle rally must provide those kinds of local businesses with thousands of potential customers every year.
on the plus side its just one pub, and despite having visted that area and Newmarket,Mildenhall & Thetford many many times over the years Ive never once been unlucky enough to go to Freckenham, and Suffolk has plenty of other pubs, lots of them are very cycle friendly and will gladly fill your water bottles for you
Trust me I am from Thetford and Freckenham which is the other side of Mildenhall would be considered to be another part of the world.
Freckenham is next door to Thetford. Nice forest of trees there but it has a reputation of not having the friendliest inhabitants.
I still remember the story of the pub owned by a Portuguese landlord that was destroyed by by football fans when Portugal beat England in a match.
Freckenham to Thetford is about 16 miles so I'm not sure that it counts as right next door!
The football 'Fans' story is \/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/4189202.stm
and I think destroyed is a little strong but it was a disgraceful night for Thetford but not something that I think really has anything to do with this story!
Yeah bit OT but reminds me that I watched that match at the Vasco De Gama in Lambeth's 'Little Lisbon' area and once the regulars were satisfied that my friend and I were, in fact, Scottish we could not have been made more welcome
(Cristiano Ronaldo winking emoticon klaxon)
It's not important really but the game in 2004 was at the Estadio da Luz (although it could well be that you watched the game in a place called Vasco da Gama in Lambeth) and the winking incident was at the World Cup 2006 at Gelsenkirchen.
I watched the first game at the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury and the latter on the Reeperbahn. I'm just surprised at how much I can actually remember of either.
Terrible customer service. But just a thought for future convenience. Ask for your water bottles to be filled up when you place your order for food or drink (if you are ordering).
It's not so easy to turn that down as it'll need to be on the bar with the beer before the money is handed over.
Sounds like a storm in a tea cup really (or water bottle).
It might be wise to investigate further before starting on a mass hassle campaign
unlike the abusive bloke in the Range Rover incident, there is no video evidence
I thought the rule that licensed premises had to give out/access to free, potable water was brought in after the rave scene bringing Ecstasy to the fore and the whole Leah Betts related and Portmann group funded misinformation campaigns?
Borish behaviour from staff at the The Golden Boar. Avoid.
So you go in and spend a few bob and have a look round to see if it's a place that you might come back to with your family for a nice night out and spend more than a few bob. You politely ask for a bit of human kindness in the form of some council pop and get told to sod off because you don't pay any road tax and your a ginger tw&*. Just goes to show that some people don't deserve to have a business.
"Born Blue. Die Blue. CFC...Owner of @goldenboar1...I spend a lot of money on booze, birds & fast cars. The rest I just squander. Instagram: LJSPY"
The owner's twitter account description. Says it all really =/
It's interesting. Whenever I see an abusive post on twitter - I look back to see what else they post about and it's inevitably football.
They missed their chance for a bit of free marketing.
Be nice to any customer and they'll tell their mates about their experience. "Yeah that Golden Boar place is bang on- well worth a visit"
Sounds like a few wankers work there. Maybe this will change them.
Its more likely the issue was the cyclists went in to spend minimal and top up their bottles for free, someone starting arguing and the whole thing was blown out of proportion, then as usual some plonker sends the Daily Mail of the cycling media a link to it. Its not like some cyclists are self-righteousness is it.
its not a hardship to say ok, walk away and buy large bottles of water locally and share them, then do not return to said pub.
Because tap water is so expensive. £2.24/m3 including waste water in Suffolk, say there was 8 of them that wanted their bottle filled that's nearly 1 whole pence!
One Pence? One PENNY!
We're safe now. Pedantryman is here to protect us.
Double post!
Menu on Facebook: £45 for a 16 oz T bone? should be arrested for that alone!
Good job mr Tye, how much is bad publicity for not providing water to paying customers & clearly being a wanker is going to cost you?
Had water been provided Dulwich Paragon probably would have said to mates 'what a lovely helpful pub' ensuring some repeat business.
What the f**k is wrong with some people? He's not related to a butcher from SW London who drives a black Range Rover is he?
They say that the party of cyclists were rude and abusive to the manager first. As much as I naturally side with the cyclists, I feel road.cc really should make more of an effort to get both sides of the story - its not exactly like they're an anonymous motorist or anything.
As the article says, we've asked them for a comment. We haven't heard back yet.
Are you serious, is that the extent of road.cc's reporting? Pick up the phone and call them again. I did earlier and I'm just a member of the public - they're very happy to talk about it.
Tbf, there is a slight difference between being "very happy to talk about it" to a member of the public, off the record, and being "very happy to talk about it" on the record, for publication. Even if there's zero difference in the response, chances are road.cc's request got referred upwards for a boss to call back, and it never happened.
Yes, fair point.
Perhaps we should ask for their side of the story. You know, on Twitter or FB.
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