Former Pub Landlord Builds Giant Fence Around Beer Garden To Get Back At Brewery
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A former pub landlord has reportedly built at giant fence around his beer garden after his lease on the pub expired and the brewery asked him to leave.
Tony O'Neill leased The Plough in Richmond from brewery Fuller's for 10 years, with Fuller's set to take the pub back over in November 2021.
At the time, Fuller's said the handover was far from 'quick and smooth' and things soon deteriorated further.
The brewery claimed O'Neill 'totally stripped' the pub, before taking his team with him to a new venue.
However, O'Neill said that the comments from Fuller's were 'a load of nonsense' and that he 'removed some of the fixtures and fittings that we put in that I will be using again in the new pub', as per MyLondon.
While the former landlord left The Plough, it has now been alleged that that he put up a fence around the beer garden.
Richmond Council has said that the fence is obstructing a public footpath, though O'Neill denies this.
While the former landlord declined to comment when asked if he had erected the fence himself, he confirmed that the boarding had been erected and Fuller's has no access to the beer garden.
A source told MyLondon that the area outside of the pub was used as a beer garden for 15 years and was only boarded up recently.
A spokesperson for Richmond Council confirmed to MyLondon that O'Neill did not own the land the fence had been erected around.
They said: "Mr O'Neill has been in dispute with Fullers Brewery, which is the freehold owner of The Plough.
"The freehold does not own the triangle of land immediately adjacent to the public house - there is no registered owner and this area of land is considered part of the public highway.
"The erection of the hoardings by Mr O'Neill is in breach of planning control and obstructs the public highway.
"The Council has issued a planning Enforcement Notice for Mr O'Neill to remove the hoardings by April 7. If the hoardings are not removed by April 7, the Council will likely remove them in default."
They added: "It is not lawful to obstruct the public highway, whether or not it blocks access to property."
However, O'Neill seems to be popular among some of the local community, with a petition in support of him being launched in November 2021 and garnering over 1,900 signatures.
Local Conservative councillor Brian Marcel started the petition to extend O'Niell's lease on the premises.
He said of O'Neill's hard work on his former establishment that he had 'really built up this pub from pretty much a disaster 10 to 15 years ago and made it a fantastic pub'.
"He's really spent a lot of money on it and he's really made it into a community. Everybody knows each other," he continued.
LADbible has reached out to Fuller's for a comment.
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