A divisive pub sign has sparked a heated debate online, with some people branding it ‘unacceptable’ and others defending it.
Bringing your kids to the pub has always been a point of contention. For many beer guzzlers, these screaming little ones can ruin the ambience, but other bar-goers see the whole thing as a family affair.
Now, The Lower Red Lion pub in St Albans, Hertfordshire, has taken this to a whole new level, planting a sign outside which bluntly reads: “DOG FRIENDLY, CHILD FREE.” This was posted to X just last week by @hifromkyle, who kneeled next to the sign and captioned it: “Found my new local.”
Despite seeming light-hearted, the picture has since racked up thousands of angered comments online, with many quick to label the venue as unreasonable and even ‘disgusting’.
One person said: “Why has it become socially acceptable to literally hate children?”, before later writing: “They are people too and deserve to be in public. How else will they learn appropriate behaviours?”
Another chimed in: “We don’t want our children around you anyway. If you want us to be completely honest.”
Others however, were quick to jump to the pub’s defence, stressing that it’s perfectly normal to spend time in adult-only spaces. Under UK law, children are also only allowed in pubs under certain conditions set by the premises’ licence and specific policies.
This, for example, can include disallowing children under the age of 16 if they are not accompanied by an adult, or setting out specific time windows for when kids are and aren’t welcome inside.
“People go out to the pub to have a quiet night and to socialise with friends they don’t get to see often,” one person wrote. “What I don’t want is their screaming children running around and throwing tantrums. What I do want is a fluffy good boy to stroke. Both equally likely to p*** on the carpet.”
Another later added: “As someone who spent way too many hours in pubs when I was a child watching drunken brawls, people cheating at dominoes and with other patrons’ wives, this is only a good thing.”
While The Lower Red Lion has been approached for comment, its landlord David Worcester, told The Guardian on Saturday that he thinks the accusations on X are ‘pretty wild’. “I just want to create an environment where my customers can sit and relax, it only takes one child to kick off and that spoils it for absolutely everybody,” he said.
“We’ve got upwards of 40 pubs in St Albans, all of which are child-friendly, most are dog-friendly, I believe I’m the only one in the area that isn’t.”
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