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From the
https://www.newsshopper.co.uk 23rd August 2010.
Pub closed as travellers cause mayem in town centre.
Regular protest at the closure by police of the Cross Keys pub.
POLICE swooped on a high street pub and closed it after reports of
more than 100 travellers, their horses and children causing mayhem.
Around 30 police, including three vanloads of Territorial Support Group
officers arrived at the Cross Keys pub in Erith High Street on Sunday
night to disperse the crowd.
Nearby residents claimed horses were being taken into the pub, children
as young as 10 were drinking alcohol and were riding up to a dozen
bareback horses and pony-and-traps along the one-way section of the High
Street against the traffic flow.
But licensee Derek McKenzie is angry at the closure, which was confirmed
by Bexley magistrates on Monday, saying he had no control over what was
happening out on the street.
Residents claim travellers have been massing at the pub on the last
three Sundays, bringing their horses with them.
Bexley police inspector Colin Edge said on Sunday more than 100
travellers were crowded into the pub.
He said between 8pm and 9pm police had received nine calls mainly
concerned about the danger caused by horses and the traps running up and
down the High Street.
Inspector Edge said as he waited for extra officers to arrive, police
watched live CCTV and saw five horses being taken into the pub.
He said there were also a large number of horses tethered in the street.
Inspector Edge said when police arrived they issued a closure notice to
the pub and had dispersed the travellers within an hour without any
trouble.
He said he found no evidence of under-age drinking.
Residents were angry it had taken police so long to react to the
gatherings.
One resident said: “Don’t tell me the police weren’t aware.
“The travellers tried to get into the Running Horses three weeks ago,
but the landlord closed it.”
He claimed: “They were trading horses inside the pub and there were
horseboxes and a big van parked behind the post office.”
Mr McKenzie, 68, said his pub was being blamed for things beyond his
control.
He said: “I cannot put up a sign saying ‘no travellers’.
“The closure notice talks about possible abuse of animals and of people
riding up and down the street.
“I don’t have control over what is happening in the roadway or
responsibility for dealing with animal cruelty.”
Mr Mckenzie added the notice only talked about “unconfirmed” under-age
drinking.
He said: “The travellers were not causing any trouble inside the pub.
“When I was serving some of them, I could not refuse to serve others who
were turning up.”
He admitted one horse was brought inside the pub, but said he told the
owner to remove it immediately.
Mr McKenzie, who runs the pub with his partner, said: “We’ve been here
20 years and the police are trying to take our living, such as it is
these days, away from us.”
He claimed he had not been told about the magistrates court hearing on
Monday which confirmed the order, or he would have attended.
He said: “I thought we would be able to open again on Monday night. My
partner is devastated.”
Regulars at the pub held their own protest on Monday, pinning notices to
the front of the pub with messages reading “Give us back our pub now”
and “Support our much loved landlord” and claiming the Cross Keys was
the last proper pub left in the town.
The pub will now be shut for 28 days unless Mr Mckenzie makes a
successful appeal.
Its licence will also be reviewed on Friday (August 27).
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