Coronavirus: Sadness as 'England's oldest inn' boarded up in Nottingham

Experts say claims Ye Olde Trip is England's oldest pub cannot be proved or disproved

Residents have expressed sadness at seeing a city tourist attraction, which claims to be England's oldest pub, boarded up.

One regular, Tony Bates, said the closure of Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem, in Nottingham, showed "the city really is shut".

Mr Bates added he thought the boards were an "overreaction".

A Greene King spokesman said they had boarded up their pubs in the city to protect them during the lockdown.

Pubs were told to shut by the government in a bid to slow the spread of coronavirus

Andrew Ludlow, secretary of the local branch of the campaign for real ales, said he had not seen it boarded up in his 67 years living in the city.

City centre resident Tony Bates added: "It's an image that will not be forgotten. Nottingham really is shut."

He said he thought boarding it up was an "overreaction".

"Other pubs have not been boarded up," he said. "I think the message it gives out is terrible."

Ye Olde Trip is just one of the three pubs in the city which have a claim to being the "oldest" in the city - The Bell Inn and Ye Olde Salutation Inn both boast the same title.

Ye Olde Salutation Inn - one of the city's other historical pubs - is closed but not boarded up

• Ye Olde Trip claims to be the oldest inn in England.

• But two other pubs - The Bell Inn and Ye Olde Salutation Inn - also claim to be the oldest in the city.

• Local buildings history expert James Wright said both have older architectural features than Ye Olde Trip but caves at the back of the pub may predate them, so it remains a mystery which is really the oldest.

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