A Lancashire pub owner who had been giving food away to customers for free will now sell it for just a penny, in order to avoid getting closed down due to Tier 3 Covid regulations.
Andy Macdonald runs the student pub Ships and Giggles in Preston.
As a Tier 3 area, no pubs or bars are allowed to stay open except for those that serve substantial meals, and as the new restrictions hit the north-west town last Friday, Andy thought he'd found a solution.
"Free chicken wings and chips from 6pm starting tomorrow. You're more than welcome to eat as many as you like," he wrote on social media.
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"There isn't any catches. I just can't be bothered listening to government anymore. I've got nothing to lose now.
"Please do us the honour of continuing to support Ships and Giggles, buy drinks, and keep Ships afloat and staff in jobs."
Unfortunately for Andy, his scheme was quickly discovered by Preston Council, who told him he was disobeying the rules by giving out food for free.
Andy's retaliation? He's upped his selection of chicken wings and chips to the generous price of 1p per portion.
Once again taking to social media, the publican wrote: "I am disgusted, disheartened and so bloody offended.
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"Bang on 5pm yesterday when I was about to open my doors I received a phone call from a particular individual from the council's environmental health team.
"The first thing he said was 'you are providing free food so people can purchase alcohol'.
"I asked him to repeat it and made it clear how wrong he was.
"I had to repeatedly tell him that how dare he try and tell me what I'm doing, and then wait until 5pm when I'm about to open my doors to ring me when I have a restaurant/bar to open putting fear into myself and my staff."
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Preston Council released information stating meals in pubs must be purchased by customers - and not just given away.
Andy reacted to this by saying: "So moving forward...meals are now a penny.
"However you can 'pay what you want' if it's more than a penny."
He has also claimed that he will be making an 'even larger amount of food' available to customers.
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Finishing his post, Andy stated: "I don't know how to make myself any more clear on what I'm doing.
"I am doing everything in my power to keep my business afloat and in the safest way possible.
"What we are doing at Ships and Giggles is trying to shine some light during these mentally and financially dark times.
"I, like many others, have suffered extremely mentally, but this week I've been happy with a massive sense of achievement and satisfaction
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"I'm not trying to offend anyone and I'm not doing anything for the wrong reasons."
Lancashire and Liverpool are currently the only regions already within Tier 3 restrictions but they are shortly to be joined by Greater Manchester from Friday, and South Yorkshire from Saturday. Even more are expected to follow.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: UK News