'Mayhem' pub in Cornwall, Three Ferrets St Ives licence decision

The Three Ferrets in St Ives had its licence reviewed by Cornwall Council after people living nearby claimed they had experienced abusive language, fights and people urinating in the street.

Cornwall Council’s licensing act sub-committee agreed that the pub had failed to prevent crime, disorder and public nuisance, as required under its licensing objectives. As a result it has imposed strong conditions which include reducing the opening hours of the pub, requiring security staff to work on the doors and not allowing additional customers in after 10pm.

The review of the licence had been applied for by local resident Sherry Siefken Glossop, who has lived and worked opposite the pub in Chapel Street for almost 30 years. She had submitted a dossier of evidence including photos and videos to the council showing how she considered that the pub had breached its licence.

She said the licence should be revoked or strict conditions put on the licence holders to try to reduce the impact the pub and its customers are having on people living and working nearby. Ms Siefken Glossop told the committee that previous efforts to enforce new rules on the pub had failed.

She told councillors that claims that The Three Ferrets was a “cosy, community pub” were wide of the mark and it was “a source of never-ending mayhem and trouble”. Ms Siefken Glossop said she felt her right to a peaceful home life had been taken away from her.

The Three Ferrets pub, St Ives (Image: Google)

Matthew Butt KC, representing The Three Ferrets, said it was not right to suggest that all the submissions which had been made in support of the pub were customers and some came from people who also live near the venue. He said he had worked with the pub to draw up “proposals that can find a way which allow this community pub to take concerted steps that will give assurance to the applicants and allow this business to remain”.

Mr Butt claimed that if the pub’s opening hours were reduced then it would be the equivalent of revoking its licence, as he said it would have to close because it would no longer be viable. The pub is currently open until midnight during the week and until 1.30am at the weekend.

He also said the landlord, John Bestwick, wanted to apologise to residents for putting up a sign in the pub last year which complained about people “whingeing” and submitting complaints about the pub.

Mr Butt said: “I have to accept that there are some things that my client did that were unhelpful. The sign that was put up was unnecessary. My client apologises for doing something that was, frankly, pretty stupid.”

Mr Butt told the committee that while police had lodged 26 incidents directly linked with the pub, many of these resulted in no further action or had highlighted that staff had “done the right thing”. He also claimed that many of the problems experienced in the area outside the pub had been caused by people coming to Chapel Street from elsewhere in St Ives, sometimes bringing drinks with them.

However, he admitted that something did need to be done to improve the situation and suggested measures including having licensed door staff working at the pub at weekends and for the pub to adopt a no re-entry policy after a certain hour.

Screenshot of CCTV footage which shows a large number of people congregating and drinking outside the Three Ferrets pub in St Ives

In response to allegations regarding drug dealing and drug taking in and around the pub Mr Butt said that The Three Ferrets operates a strict no drugs policy and that any customers found with illegal substances would be banned from the pub.

Rebecca Lewis, who owns a property close to the pub, said she had been left out of pocket due to tenants leaving and having issues with re-letting it. She said the pub should have its licence revoked and asked why other businesses should lose money so that one "acting irresponsibly" was allowed to remain open.

She said there were 17 other pubs in St Ives that did not have issues like that seen at The Three Ferrets, and all of which adhered to the licensing objectives. “There is no justification for keeping this pub open on the grounds of community need,” she added.

Ronnie Stafford, speaking in support of the pub, said he supported it remaining open in line with licensing objectives. As a local resident of St Ives he liked to visit for a late drink and said that while he sympathised with the residents he did not consider that the pub should close.

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In their decision, the licensing committee members said that after considering all of the evidence they found that the licensing objectives were not being promoted at The Three Ferrets, particularly in relation to the prevention of crime and disorder and prevention of public nuisance.

As a result they proposed variations to the pub’s current licence and conditions. These include that the hours of licensable activities should be 9am to 11pm Sunday to Saturday, except on New Year’s Eve when it can remain open until 1am.

The committee set opening hours of 9am to 11.30pm Sunday to Saturday. In addition they ruled that there should be no admission of customers after 10pm, although customers who have entered before that time can re-enter after it in order to smoke outside.

In addition, a condition was placed on the pub that no drinks should be removed from the premises in open containers and that there should be no off-sales of alcohol after 9pm.

The committee said there should be one SIA-registered member of door staff working at the entrance to the pub from 9pm on Fridays to Saturdays all year, and that from May 1 to September 30 there should be two members of SIA-registered door staff working from 9pm – one male and one female - and that one should be from an independent company.