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Pub closure 'rips heart' out of area
Thurnscoe's "heart" has been "ripped out" residents say, after administrators shut a popular pub and booted-out the landlord and all the staff - with just ONE day's warning.
On Friday the doors of the Thurnscoe Hotel were shut by its leaseholder, GRS Inns Ltd - forcing out landlord couple Mark and Mandy Brinkley, their family, staff and regulars after GRS Inns plunged into administration.
In just five minutes early on Friday morning, the formerly lively pub was emptied and the keys were handed over to the pub company, leaving Mark, Mandy and their loyal customers out in the cold.
The Houghton Road pub is one of 44 nationwide managed by the firm which may have to be closed after its parent company, London Town Plc, had also gone into administration.
But furious pub manager Mandy has hit back at the pub company who said she had "lost control" of the bar following a mass brawl in the street after the funeral of a popular Thurnscoe dad two weeks ago.
Said Mandy: "They are saying we had trouble here and they are trying to shift the blame onto us. Well it's outrageous. The brawl had nothing to do with this pub. The pub was doing well. All the stock was going well and on Sunday's the place was heaving because of the football teams.
Mike Harrison, operations manager for LT Pub Management Ltd, closed the pub's doors on Friday.
He had earlier told the Times police had temporarily suspended the pub's license in the wake of the street fight.
He said: "I appointed Mark and Mandy and they did a really good job but they lost control and the decision had already been taken out of my hands. The pub was shut anyway. But now it is the administrator's who have instructed us to close it.
"We could only give 24 hours notice to people and that was really unfortunate."
South Yorkshire Police confirmed this week that they had temporarily suspended the pub's license on Tuesday, February 23 pending a review.
But Mandy said: "We didn't lose the license. It was awaiting its review which was to be held on March 18."
And she revealed the pub's closure had left a devastating mark on the Thurnscoe community.
She said: "I feel totally lost and so does everyone else. "They told us we had 24 hours to be gone at about 10am on Thursday.
I've now lost my job and I have no idea what I'm going to do. The pub was doing well. I can't believe they've done this. It's not just me who's out but my staff too. They want to know what's going to happen to them and their wages and I can't tell them.
Mandy said: "Over the weekend there's been trouble in Thurnscoe again and the problem has been made worse by the fact there's not the same spacing between the pubs.
"This pub is the centre of the village and now it's gone."
Tony Ellis, a pub regular and himself a former landlord, said: "This is another nail in the coffin of Thurnscoe. This pub is at the heart of Thurnscoe and now its centre has been ripped out. They have no care for the community here and to do this with 24 hours notice is disgraceful.
"People in Thurnscoe don't need another boarded-up pub."
But accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers who are acting as administrators have said they are seeking buyers for the affected pubs and had hoped to negotiate with landlords to keep as many of the GRS Inns pubs trading as possible.
PricewaterhouseCoopers' David Chubb said: "This has been a particularly complex restructuring but we are pleased to have preserved the majority of the business, and therefore jobs, through the transactions we have completed.
"In order to avoid immediate closure of the 44 leased pubs in GRS Inns Limited, we have negotiated a short term management contract and hope this will allow time to attempt to secure the longer term survival of these pubs. All the pubs are on the market and we would ask interested parties to contact our agents Christie & Co.
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Sunday 05 February 2012
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