Covid-19: Wisbech mayor let pub customers 'hug and kiss'

Aigars Balsevics runs three pubs in the Cambridgeshire town of Wisbech

A town mayor who allowed customers to "hug and kiss" in his pub on Christmas Eve showed a "blatant disregard" for Covid regulations, a council said.

Aigars Balsevics, mayor of Wisbech in Cambridgeshire, allowed the breaches of regulations at the town's Angel Inn.

After a licence review, the district council concluded "Covid regulations were largely ignored" and said his name would be taken off the licence.

Mr Balsevics said he was "disappointed" at the decision and intended to appeal.

The licence of the pub, which is owned by Elgoods Brewery, will also be suspended for three months, the council's licensing committee said.

The town's mayor is also landlord of the Angel Inn

The council said the decision would not come into force until 21 days after notice had been given, while Mr Balsevics said the premises would be able to operate until the appeal had been resolved.

Mr Balsevics became Conservative mayor of the town in May after being elected chairman of the town council.

At the time of the breaches, Wisbech was in tier two of the government's coronavirus restrictions, meaning that face coverings needed to be worn, only table service was permitted in pubs, and households were not allowed to mix.

A review of the pub licence was instigated after CCTV showed customers and staff "mingling/mixing freely and on many occasions seen having physical contact between different tables and different households i.e. hugging, kissing, shaking hands and even mock fighting/wrestling", Fenland's licensing committee heard.

Mr Balsevics was said to have failed to adopt Covid-safe practices in the pub

The committee took several days to reach a conclusion after David Dadds, representing Mr Balsevics, and Elgood's Brewery, told Monday's meeting there had been "no offences under the Licensing Act".

"There are alleged offences under Covid regulations which have not been proved yet and it's not for you to establish if there is innocence or guilt in those," he said.

The committee concluded that the landlord "was fully aware of his responsibilities but chose to ignore them on the 24th".

'Totally unacceptable'

"Covid regulations were largely ignored as was the Health and Safety at Work Act. There were little or no safeguarding for employees and customers.

"The motive behind this blatant disregard can only be for profit," they said.

"We find such behaviour during the pandemic... staggering to say the least. Not only were staff put at risk and those in attendance but also persons in the wider community who may well come into contact with those present on the day."

In passing down its decision to remove Mr Balsevics from the pub's licence, the committee added: "We considered the information before us and felt it necessary to take robust steps as the circumstances that gave rise to the review are totally unacceptable."

Mr Balsevics "must not have any further managerial responsibility for the premises", the panel concluded, however, this does not affect his job as landlord of two other pubs in Wisbech.

The three-month suspension of the licence for The Angel Inn would allow the owners to seek a new landlord and "engage fully with any existing or subsequent relevant health and safety and public health legislation affecting the licensed trade", the committee said.

In a statement following the review, Mr Balsevics said he believed the premises had taken "reasonable steps".

"In hindsight we recognise that we could have done more to enhance the safety of our customers but the decision is not proportionate as there is no track record of any matters arising in our premises before Christmas Eve," he added.