Pints of pluck......

Eventually after 8 months, this story appeared in the Dorset Evening Echo 04/0801. C/W nice colour photo of landlord and pub……………No Morris persons, naked or otherwise...... Story by Tim Champion.

Landlord fears system threatens future of traditional music.

CALL FOR SCRAPPING OF LICENSING LAWS.

Pub landlord Brian Flynn fears strict licensing laws could threaten the future of traditional music.

Mr Flynn, who runs the Cove House Inn on Portland, is calling for the current system to be scrapped. He admits he has already broken the terms of his entertainment licence three times this year.

As the law stands, landlords must have a licence if more than two people perform on the premises. Officers from Weymouth and Portland Borough Council visited the Cove House Inn after a folk night started last year.

Mr Flynn later acquired a licence covering him for music inside the pub and for an annual outdoor charity bash in August.

He said "one of the conditions of the licence is that I can hold one outdoor charity event every year, as long as it finishes by 6pm. But I have already hosted three evening Morris dancing events outside the pub this summer".

" I can't see what harm it is doing. I don't think we should need a licence a licence for Morris dancing or folk musicians. It is part of out English cultural heritage and it is being stamped on by these strict licensing laws".

He added "The Thursday night event is a jam session for local musicians--we are just providing a place for them to play. The big pubs won't do this because they don't see it as making commercial sense".

Mr Flynn says he is also concerned that he paid £180 to the borough council for a licence that only lasted six weeks, from May 16 to June 30, rather than a year. He said "I think the council has made a mistake".

Folk musician Roger Gall, who started the folk night, said "The event is not a commercial one and none of the musicians are paid".

"Folk music is a grey area under the current laws and I believe there is enough scope for Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to use its discretion".

Borough council licensing manager Sue Allen, said "It is not for me to put individual interpretations on the law—I have to treat everybody equally. If Mr Flynn or Mr Gall want a change in the law, they must lobby for it nationally".

She added; "All licences expire on June 30 and Mr Flynn has already had the benefit of a licence for several months without actually having one".