New owners of The Dog and Bull market pub have yet to submit a licensing application to stay open into the early hours every night.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
Under construction: work was still going on in The Dog and Bull’s beer garden last week
Residents living in flats near Croydon’s oldest pub, The Dog and Bull on Surrey Street, have reacted with outrage at proposals for the boozer to have extended licensing hours, to 3am some mornings, as part of its “refreshed” offer under new owners Laine.
“There are too many flats in the area and it seems they have not thought about the residents here,” one neighbour of the pub told Inside Croydon.
Brighton-based Laine, part of the Punch Pubs pubco empire, have already drawn the anger of the pub’s regulars, with a name change to “The Dog” as part of a £125,000 refurbishment that has focused mostly on the beer garden – or what they have decided to call “The Wilderness”.
The refurbishment has been going on for five weeks, with what Laine has described as a “soft launch” planned for this Friday, May 9.
The revised pub’s website also suggests that they want to stay open until midnight most nights, with 2am closing on Friday nights and going on until 3am every Saturday. There’s also the possibility of using a new sound system into the wee small hours.
According to an official release from Laine, “Imagine this: incredible, bookable outdoor spaces, heated for year-round revelry, giant screens for unmissable sporting action, and a killer sound system ready to drop the freshest beats.”
“Revelry” no less.
Last orders: the pub’s new opening times, according to their website. Except this has not yet come before the council licensing committee
And they boast: “Forget dusty traditions and predictable pints! Laine, Punch Pubs’ equally awesome sister company and notorious for building boozers that pulse with individuality, is unleashing a £125,000 initial investment into this Croydon cornerstone as the first bark in a thrilling three-stage transformation.
“This isn’t just a lick of paint; it’s a full-blown ‘garden utopia’ in the making!”
Yet long-standing residents in nearby blocks of flats say that they have been told nothing about Laine’s plans.
“I had no idea what was going on about this, even though I live next to the pub,” said one local.
“I was not aware of the extended opening hours to 2am and 3am. Nobody has informed us about it.
“I always go out in other boroughs here in London, where most pubs I go to have a strict curfew for their outdoor space in residential areas, and after a certain time, everybody goes inside.”
The resident recalled how the Granaries night club nearby would keep its sound system operating only indoors later at night.
“In the summer months, I like to have our flat’s balcony door open, especially if it is hot. We might not be able to do that if there’s loud music going on outside.
“There are too many flats in the area and it seems they have not thought about the residents here.”
Cultural vandalism: an unauthorised and ugly alteration to the front of a Grade II-listed building
According to Town Hall sources, there had not been any application to the licensing committee for a change in The Dog and Bull’s opening hours.
Ria Patel, a councillor for Fairfield ward which includes Surrey Street, told Inside Croydon, “I understand wanting to revitalise the night-time economy in the town centre, but late night openings risks being disruptive to the residents who live off the alleys of Surrey Street that surround the pub.”
Last week, Laine were accused of “cultural vandalism” and “vulture capitalism” by an official of CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale, over their proposals for The Dog and Bull’s protected Grade II-listed frontage.
A market pub has been on the site for 750 years. Last week, the more traditional Dog and Bull pub sign hanging out across the street market was taken down, replaced by an amorphous, unrecognisable abstract of “The Dog”.
96%
said that they prefer the long-standing Dog and Bull name to the pointless and unnecessary alteration dreamt up by some business executive at Laine.
The Dog and Bull, formerly owned by Youngs, changed hands at the end of March, bought by Punch Pubs and shifted into what they call their “Laine portfolio”. The first thing they did was to close the doors and start the refurbishment, mostly of the beer garden area.
It is reckoned that there has been a pub on the site since 1276, when the medieval market was known as Butcher’s Row.
Read more: What a load of old Bull! Chain to rename Croydon’s oldest pub
The Croydon Advertiser sold an average of just 742 copies per week last year (ABC 2024 audit).
Inside Croydon is read by an average of 10,000 people every weekday
TO ADVERTISE your services, products or event to our readers to the site, as featured on Google News Showcase, email us inside.croydon@btinternet.com for our unbeatable ad rates
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
