Sheffield pub where drinkers hid in cupboards loses licence

The Pitsmoor Hotel in Sheffield has been issued with a prohibition order by the police and council

A pub has been stripped of its licence after police found drinkers hiding in cupboards during the coronavirus lockdown.

The Pitsmoor Hotel in Sheffield was raided by police on 24 April after reports it was still serving customers.

The Staffordshire Arms, also licensed to Paul Greasby, has had its licence removed too.

The decision was made at the council's licensing committee meeting on Tuesday.

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In March, the government ordered that pubs, restaurants and other businesses must close in an attempt to reduce the spread of the Covid-19 virus, and the legislation said owners could be given a prohibition notice and fined if they opened their establishments.

If they broke the prohibition notice then magistrates could impose potentially unlimited fines.

The Staffordshire Arms in Burngreave was also told it must close

The Pitsmoor Hotel was forced to shut after the raid on 24 April, with South Yorkshire Police and Sheffield City Council issuing the pub with a prohibition order.

But when police returned the next day, following reports from the public it was still serving customers, officers found people were on the roof "to make it look like no-one was inside", a report to the council licensing committee said.

The licence holder, Mr Greasby, had also been served a prohibition notice for The Staffordshire Arms in Burngreave,

And in January - before lockdown - the Pitsmoor Hotel licence was suspended because fees had not been paid.

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