Nightmare children top complaint from pub goers
Fiona Stapley, editor of the guide said: “The era of children being seen but not heard, has been consigned to history – and quite right, too. But now that almost all pubs warmly welcome children at all times, the few problem families, whose children run riot, stick out like the proverbial sore thumb. We get more complaints from readers about unruly children than anything else.”
Complaints include screaming babies, children allowed to run around undisciplined and overprotective parents abusing staff. One landlady told the Good Pub Guide: “My pub is not suitable for noisy or badly behaved children, but charming ones are warmly welcomed.”
The findings add fuel to the fire for pubs who are choosing to take the radical step of banning children completely. Burton-on-Trent based pub the Waterfront is reporting a successful summer despite a backlash from some parents after it banned under-fives earlier this year.
The Good Pub Guide also revealed that its annual national survey of beer prices shows an 82p difference between the country’s cheapest and most expensive pints. Herefordshire was the cheapest county at £3.10 a pint, whilst London was unsurprisingly the most expensive at £3.92. The average pint of beer in Britain is now £3.46, up 15p from last year.
