Ex-darts champ Bristow evicted from pub

Former darts world champion Eric Bristow has been evicted from the Punch pub he ran in conjunction with licensee Barry Birch.

The pair were forced to quit the Swan in Leek, Staffordshire, after the pubco obtained a court order over £36,000 in unpaid rent.

Birch contests the figure, but admitted that he withheld rent.

He claimed this action was taken because Punch had failed to undertake work that it had promised to do and that the necessary safety certificates for the pub's gas, electrical and fire-fighting equipment and installations were not valid or out of date.

Birch said just after taking on the pub in 2009, the boiler servicing the trading area was condemned and it took 16 weeks before Punch took any action. "Punch gave us six convector heaters for the whole pub in the fierce winter (of 2009/10)."

Punch denied any wrongdoing. It said: "The Gas Safe engineer condemned the equipment, which should have been taken out of use, but the tenants contravened this prohibition notice by continuing to use it."

It added there was a valid electrical certificate in place, while servicing fire-fighting equipment was the tenant's responsibility.

Last week, officers from Staffordshire Moorlands District Council inspected the pub and told Punch that dangerous equipment should be taken out of use.