The grief-stricken son of a murdered Leeds woman is “angry” with Leeds City Council for shutting down his beloved local pub and allegedly not helping to restore it.
The Old Red Lion in York Road, Whinmoor, has sat derelict since its license was revoked in August last year due to the high level of crime surrounding it. The pub has since been targeted by thieves, who have gutted the building of its lead, piping and CCTV set up.
Joel Barrott, 21, who helps with the maintenance, is heartbroken at the dismal state of the pub he once viewed as his “little escape”. He claims the council has not helped in any way since its closure, with efforts by the former landlords installing doormen and making multiple reports to the police allegedly going ‘ignored’.
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The amount of crime perpetuated around the pub was its downfall with two stabbings and a person being hit by a car being its final nail in the coffin. The pub was shut down just days before Joel’s mum Eileen was murdered by his dad Mark.
The owner is now faced with having to sell the building, which dates back about 260 years, to developers who will likely demolish the building as it is not listed. If that happens, Joel will lose his little refuge forever.
The council hit back, pointing out the pub owner never appealed the decision to close down the pub. But the land and building owner Francis, who did not want his last name published, said he has spent thousands attempting to reopen the pub with new management.
Comments made by Whinmoor Councillor Pauleen Grahame further angered Joel, after she wrote online: “Our main priority is to get the building open again”. He claims she has had no contact with him or the owners about restoring the historic pub.
Joel, whose main job is in insurance, said: “The council didn’t help in the first place and they’re not helping now with the derelict building. What’s really annoying me is that a councillor is saying they want the building to be restored but the council is saying it’s not their responsibility so it’s completely contradicting themselves.
“It makes me feel angry and I can say for sure, it really makes Francis angry. The whole thing with the council. They’re just messing us about. I can understand why they had that meeting in the first place, I’m not going to deny that there was crime and something needed to be done.
“There was no sort of offer to put things in place or offer some sort of a resolution. It was just a case of: ‘This pub shouldn’t have its license, we’re going to revoke it’."
Owner Francis said: “The council should have allowed the Old Red Lion to reopen under new management. I spent thousands of pounds trying to do this with no success”
A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said: “As a privately-owned building, the maintenance and upkeep of the Old Red Lion pub is the responsibility of the owners.
“Since the revocation of its premises licence by the licensing sub committee last year, the owners had the right to appeal the decision but failed to do so. No further application for a new licence has been made since.”
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