TV soaps lose plot with pub scenes, says group

by Tony Halstead Television soap pubs have been rapped by Britain's brewers for promoting bad practice in the nation's bars. The campaign group Beer Naturally, which is being backed by the country's second-biggest beer producer, Coors, and more than 30 independent brewers, claimed people were picking up bad habits from scenes depicted in Coronation Street's Rovers Return and EastEnders' Queen Vic. The group said screen characters, such as Betty Turpin in the Rovers and Alfie Moon in the Queen Vic, "supposedly experienced staff", were doing the image of beer and pubs few favours. Beer Naturally has singled out the Rovers as the worst soap pub culprit, because it had persistently ignored the principles designed to ensure that customers received a quality pint. Brewing scientist Dr Paul Hegarty and a team of researchers, have studied a wealth of soap footage, which also included scenes from the Woolpack in Emmerdale, Bar Brookie in Brookside and The Dog In The Pond in Hollyoaks, to pinpoint bad innkeeping practice. Hegarty said: "In the Rovers, I have lost count of the number of times I have seen used glasses being refilled, which affects the quality of the drink, its flavour and the amount of head. "While we all realise that the Rovers and the Vic are fictional pubs, I think it's fair to say that in the real world customers would not be too happy if their own local committed the type of serving blunders that are on show every week in the soaps. "Fortunately, pubs in the real world ­ on the whole ­ tend to do a rather more professional job." Granada has defended the role which the Rovers Return has played in Coronation Street. Senior "Street" spokesperson Alison Sinclair said: "Coronation Street is a drama not a public information film." Beer Naturally's top 10 beer serving errors detected in bars shown on soaps were: l Refilling a dirty glass

Smoking and eating behind the bar l Excess head on pints l No head on the beer

Holding the glass at the wrong pouring angle

Leaving empties and full ashtrays cluttering tables

Using the wrong shaped glasses

Leaving too long a drop from the dispenser/bottle into the glass l Unfriendly staff l Untrained staff