Furniture shop in Farnham, Surrey gives away free booze to its customers. Local police and councilors are
powerless to act because licensing laws only apply to premises where alcohol is
being sold by retail.Locals are flocking to the Innsatiable bar and furniture shop in Farnham which opened its doors last month. Drinks are given away free to customers but they need to obtain a beer mat at a cost of £2.75 to avoid damaging the furniture. Mr Atkinson the shop’s owner told the Morning Advertiser newspaper: “The bee in everyone’s bonnet is that we are offering free alcoholic drinks from a free bar. Everyone who comes in thinks it is a great idea — my staff are very welcoming.”
A spokesman for Waverley council said: “Should information come to light that the Licensing Act 2003 is being breached Waverley borough council will take appropriate action.”
Don Laight, landlord of The Jolly Sailor and chairman of the local Pubwatch voluntary group which promotes safer drinking, said: “This guy has found a loophole in the licensing laws and there’s not much anyone can do about it at the moment.
“It’s really affecting some of the pubs in the centre of the town because there’s no way they can compete, and it’s going to get worse when the students come back to university. As you can imagine they’ll be around it like it’s a honey pot.”
Mr Atkinson plans to open branches in Winchester and Guildford soon and 13 other outlets next year. Dean Carr from the PLT Licensing team said “It will be interesting to see the outcome of this case and what course of action the local council and responsible authorities will take as effectively the beer mats are beer tokens”.
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