WETHERSPOONS’ drinkers are up in arms after being banned from standing by the bar to sip their pints.
Regulars are already foaming over the traditional free-for-all being replaced with shop-like queues.
And now some pubs in the chain have outlawed loitering at the bar with a pint.
A sign at the popular Roebuck in Rayleigh, Essex, tells punters: “No drinking at the bar.
“Once served we kindly request that you move away from the bar area. Apologies for any inconvenience.”
One local, retired builder Alf Spencer, 71, said: “I used to stand up at the bar but we’re told not to now.
“It’s always been a nice way to enjoy a pint and chat to the bar staff and the other locals. But I can see why they do it.”
Another drinker told The Sun: “I can’t believe they’ve introduced this. Surely being stood at the bar is one of the joys of the British pub.
“First ridiculous queues and now this. Standing at the bar is part of what makes the great British pub experience what it is.”
Defending the rule, which was brought in at the start of December, the manager of the Roebuck said: “At Christmas there were 500 people here.
“We need people to move from the bar when it’s that busy. It’s not health and safety. This is for service. It is an organisational thing.”
When asked if there was backlash to the rule, the manager replied: “Oh yeah, of course.
“It doesn’t really matter if some people are unhappy about it. We have a zero tolerance policy for abuse in our pub.”
But others in the Essex pub thought it was a good idea.
Scaffolder Micky Graham, 64, said: “The real problem is, like any good English person, they see people in front of a bar and they get in line patiently.
“The issue is it gets confusing for people. It gets very busy here. And if there is a group of people just standing there at the bar.
I can’t believe they’ve introduced this.
“It’s a problem. We used to come here and stand at the bar, but it’s a food place now. It’s not like it was back in the day.
“People come for dinner. But there’ll always be people who don’t like it.
“In a pub like this it makes sense, in a real local it’s a bad idea. I used to be a ‘standerupper’. But now, I’m old.
“And Wetherspoons want bums on seats. Then people will order food.”
The move comes after it was revealed that Gen Z pubgoers needed to be told not to form a queue at the bar.
Wetherspoons said the “no drinking at the bar” rule was common in several of its high-trade pubs around the country.
Company spokesman, Eddie Gershon, said: “We leave it up to individual managers whether to do this or not.
“We have no issue with it.”
