Neighbours of Lewes pub feel ‘under siege’ in their own homes

On Friday (February 28), a panel of Lewes district councillors are to consider calls to revoke the licence of The Lamb in Fisher Street.

The hearing has been called at the request of Lewes Castle councillor Milly Manley (Green), in light of a series of complaints from residents around noise and anti-social behaviour from the pub following a change in management last July. 

In a letter requesting the licence review, Cllr Manley said: “Residents have made it clear to me over a matter of months that they are living through insufferable conditions caused by mismanagement of the Lamb.

“In the words of the residents, customers are ‘loud, abusive, intimidating, and provocative towards local residents’ on a regular basis. 

“Residents have not only sustained lack of sleep for a prolonged period of time, causing much stress and anxiety, but also live in fear of either themselves or their property being attacked.”

Cllr Manley goes on to say she believed that the Lamb’s staff were “either unwilling or unable” to control the behaviour of their customers and often behaved in a way that contributed to it.

As part of her submission, Cllr Manley provided the council with statements from residents describing how they had been affected, as well as a number of video and audio recordings.

In their statements several residents describe themselves as feeling “under siege”, while others say they feel they have no option but to move out of their homes.

The residents also describe the behaviour of customers as “relentless” and “intolerable”, with some saying they felt intimidated when walking past the pub.

Several residents also criticised the lack of security staff at the premises, saying this had contributed to the level of noise and disturbance.

One couple, who are anonymous in the report, write: “This problem is only getting worse and on top of our daily work and personal lives being impacted, we are now finding ourselves affected by a growing anxiety.

“The knowledge that we will have to endure a series of long sleepless nights when we have work in the morning, including at the weekend, makes us want to not live in our home. 

“We feel we have no choice but to start looking to move. We love our house and our town but this is too much and there appears to be no efforts made by The Lamb to consider us as their neighbours.”

However, one Lewes resident – who gives an address in St John’s Terrace – wrote in support of the pub, saying they believed its music evenings were “well-run” and already employed door staff. As a result, they said they could not see any reason for a review.

The application is also supported by Sussex Police, although its concerns are down to what it describes as “habitual misuse of illegal substances within the premises”. 

The police submission includes the results of drug swabs taken at the premises on November 15th and January 3rd , both of which show high levels of cocaine use in the pub’s bathrooms.

In light of these readings and other interactions with the pub’s management, one officer, a PC Daren Buck, said he had formed the view that the designated premises supervisor has “a total disregard to the law and positively permits the illegal activity to take place.”

The police submission also criticised the pub for not assisting in attempts to find missing firefighter Anthony Knott – who had last been seen in the pub on December 20 – by providing CCTV footage in a timely manner.

The CCTV hard drive was eventually seized by PC Buck during the January 3rd visit. The 33-year-old father-of-four was found dead in Newhaven the following week.

The hearing is set to take place on Friday, February 28. 

After hearing representations from all those involved, councillors will be able to add new conditions to the pub’s licence – such as requiring the presence of door staff or a change in DPS – or even revoke it altogether. 

A Greene King spokesman said: “As the building’s owner we have closed the Lamb in Lewes ahead of a pending sale of the pub. The pub was put on the market some time ago and a buyer has now been found who is looking to take the business forward. We are concerned by these police reports as we promote safe, welcoming pubs nationwide and treat any such reports extremely seriously.”