The Bull Inn in east Bristol closes temporarily

The Bull Inn in Crews Hole, Bristol, has metal shutters on its door and windows

A pub that Bristol City Council had tried to shut previously appears to have closed temporarily.

Metal shutters have been installed on the windows and door at The Bull Inn in Crews Hole.

Councillors revoked the premises' licence two years ago after being told it had flouted Covid-19 rules and caused neighbours "absolute sheer terror and horror."

But the local authority backed down when the pub appealed to magistrates.

Its right to serve alcohol was reinstated, despite the application to remove its licence coming from City Hall's own neighbourhood enforcement team, with support from the police.

There is no notice at the venue to explain what is happening but its listing on Google says it is "temporarily closed," according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"I'm not surprised it's closed," said Callum Coates-Keddy, manager at CCK Gardening, who lives nearby.

"It's like pushing over a wounded animal; it was on its last legs anyway. On a weekday (the owner) would be lucky to get three people in," he added.

A panel of councillors agreed in March 2022 to rescind the sub-committee's ruling and restore the premises licence with additional conditions following legal advice.

The original hearing was told there had been an escalation in antisocial behaviour and noise and that Avon and Somerset Police spent a "disproportionate" amount of time dealing with complaints about disorder, nuisance, threats of violence and reports of mass brawls.

Officers said management was rude and swore at them when they attended incidents, while music was turned up after residents complained about noise.

But regular customers submitted a petition saying their "much-loved community pub" should be saved, while managers insisted they were the victims of false and malicious reports to police of dozens of people fighting and that police had found no evidence of a disturbance.