Longer hours on Good Friday welcomed by most

Last year the States approved the legislation that will see licensed premises being able to serve alcohol from midday on Good Friday through to 12.45am on Easter Saturday.

Previously, they could open only between 11am and 2.30pm and again from 7.30 to 10pm.

‘This year we will be open normal hours, from 12 to closing time,’ said Imperial Hotel manager Boby Darnai. These hours will apply both to the restaurant and the public bar.

Mr Darnai has worked in the local catering industry for six years and said that in the past he had experienced having to stop people drinking at 2pm on both Good Friday and Christmas Day.

Last Christmas was the first time that alcohol could be served all afternoon, but he said that despite this diners still left quickly and put this down to their not being used to the new system.

He thought things could be different on Good Friday. ‘We’re almost fully booked for Easter, and that’s good news,’ he said.

Venture Inn landlord Dave Lisle said this would be the first time the pub had opened on a Good Friday. ‘There was no point before,’ he said.

The pub would be open all afternoon and night and he had special plans to keep drinkers entertained. ‘We’ve got stuff going on – there’s an Easter egg draw and bands.’

There would also be a meat and fish draw, he said.

Regulars Pete Fletcher and Martyn Courbaron both said they would be there.

‘We always make an effort for special times at The Venture,’ said Mr Fletcher, who regarded the inn as his ‘local’ even though he lived in St Andrew’s. ‘There’s the nice atmosphere of a local pub,’ he said. ‘There’s not too many of them left.’

Mr Courbaron has been a regular at the pub since he was old enough to drink and lived just down the road. ‘Obviously I’ll be here on Good Friday,’ he said.

In Town, Red Lion manager Steve Hill said he had always opened on Good Friday, regardless of the reduced hours.

‘It will be nice to open longer and give people the chance to stay on,’ he said.

‘It felt quite bad having to tell people to go home.’

While he was aware that people could drink at home, he thought that drinking in a pub was a safer environment.

With Easter being a busy sporting time, he anticipated people going along to enjoy sport on TV.

He was planning a big meat draw on the Thursday of Easter week, but said he might do another draw on Good Friday but had not decided yet.

Vanessa Pilot, landlady of The London House, said she and her partner had not yet decided whether to open or not.

‘We used to quite like the fact that it was 11-2.30,’ she said. ‘To be honest I wasn’t in favour of them changing the hours. I liked the tradition.

‘It’s the only two days we can properly lock the doors.’

Miss Pilot said that she thought it was nice for the staff to have time off to be with their families.