Drinker at Doncaster pub at centre of beer prices boycott blames row on 'trouble causers'

The Bechers Brook in Cantley has been shunned by customers, with a Facebook protest group set up after the price of a pint went up by more than a £1.

Licensee Carlie Bowkett has defended the price rises and has now been backed by a regular at the Ascot Avenue pub.

The drinker, a regular at the pub for forty years and who has asked not to be named, said: “The people who are stirring up the trouble have been barred for a while.

"It is nothing to do with the price increase – they have taken the opportunity to again cause trouble. A boycott of the pub is total fabrication.”

He added: “Draught prices have risen, but these have been offset by deals on bottles and cans and a free pool table. As for being rundown, the place was decorated 18 months ago.”

The row started after beer reportedly went up in price by £1.10 a pint with the cost of a cider going up 60p.

Fuming drinkers were so outraged they set up a Facebook group ‘Boycott The Bechers Brook Pub’ and are now staying away from the hostelry.

But the pub’s licensee has defended the move and said the rises were down to the cost of living crisis and urged the community to back the changes.

Licensee Carlie Bowkett said: “Navigating the current landscape and ongoing financial pressures which we are all facing has been extremely challenging, and I have tried my best to avoid raising my prices for as long as possible to support my community.

"Despite working extremely hard to avoid this scenario, I had to make the difficult decision to introduce a small price increase to keep the pub running smoothly.

"I’d like to thank my customers for all their support during these difficult times.”

One angry customer told the Free Press: “Prices in there have majorly gone up and the pub is empty - nobody's going in any more.

"It used to be £4.20 for a pint of San Miguel, now it is £5.30 and Strongbow was £3.70 but is now £4.30.

“They are even selling cans of Strongbow Dark Fruits and Magners Cider at £4 a can.

"A page has been set up to protest – it's our only pub left in Cantley and they are taking the mess through greed.”

Customers have reportedly transferred their custom to the nearby Flying Childers pub in Bessacarr.

A post on the page says: “The page is for people who want to get new management running the Bechers Brook.”

Another post added: “This is for the local community to show that they are disgusted with the prices and management, over priced beer which taste flat, interior is disgusting could do with an uplift. Enough is enough now, don’t want our only surviving pub to be closed due to greed.”