Bar Landlord Says He's Priced Beer To Avoid 'Clientele We Don't Want'

A bar owner has purposely attempted to price out lads on the sesh as he wants to 'get rid of that type of clientele'.

Carl Blake runs Dovecot, in Middlesbrough, and is in the process of building a summer house to serve high-end cocktails, by replacing disabled parking spaces.

While he waits for the application for planning permission to be approved Carl is extending its beer garden in the meantime.

However, the owner says he wants to avoid rowdy drinkers by only serving pricier pints.

Carl explained: "We don’t want the social club crowd that wants cheap beer.

"Our cheapest pint is £4.40 so we get rid of that type of clientele, we don’t do Carling, we don’t do Fosters.

GAZETTE MEDIA COMPANY SYNDICATION

"I don’t want it to come across as it’s going to be a free for all Oktoberfest-style outdoor area because that’s not what we are looking for.

"We are expensive, we are premium, everything we do is premium, so we look for that high-end clientele.

"That’s what we are looking for.

"We would rather have a couple of ladies who have been shopping in the town and stopping in for a bottle of wine rather than a group of lads on a session.

"In this area, we have a lot of places where you can go and get sozzled but we don’t have a lot of places where you can go out as a couple and enjoy it."

There will be a six-foot fence and shrubs added to try to keep any noise, which could affect residents, to a minimum.

GAZETTE MEDIA COMPANY SYNDICATION

Carl added: “The car park on the side of Dovecot is rarely used and when it is used if somebody actually parks in bay four everybody has to reverse out the car park to get past them because it’s too small to actually turn around which has been creating some problems.

"So we have spoken to the council about it because our long-term plans are to put a summer house on there, like a big conservatory with a cocktail bar in the back.

"As an improvement for the area, we want to keep the existing beer garden on the front and spend some money on that so it looks really nice and inviting.

"We are going to put a conservatory on the side of that with soft furniture, leather sofas and big plants, have it like a chilled-out area on the side of Dovecot."

Speaking of his plans to build on the disabled parking bays, he added: "There are plenty of parking spaces that aren’t getting used, there are eight at the side of Eliano's which is within 10 yards and there are another six in Baker and Bedford Street and they are barely used."

The public can comment on the licensing application on Middlesbrough Council's website until 21 April 2022.