Dilemma of a drinker ...

Press, 24 August 1988, Page 12

Dilemma of a drinker ...

NZPA-PA London An unemployed labourer, Ted Burgess, was crying in his beer as celebrating tipplers toasted the new 12-hour licensing laws yesterday. Mr Burgess, aged 45, who downs more than 100 pints a week, will have to find work to pay for the drinking in the extra time. As he raised his first glass past the old 3 p.m. post at The Barrel, Bradford City, he said, “This means I’m finally going to have to get a job. “I could afford £l5 ($39) a day on ale — but not the £2O ($53) it’s going to cost me now to keep going through the

afternoon hours.” Mr Burgess, whb classes himself as a moderate drinker, thinks the new laws' will mean fewer drinking problems. “People won’t get hopelessly drunk after stacking up pints on the bar and gulping them down to beat the chuckingout time. They can have more respect for their bodies and take it slower,” he said. A bricklayer, John Beardsley, aged 26, who was celebrating at the White Bear in Thornbury, Bradford, said, “For the ordinary drinking man it’s a great day. From now- on the pub will become a place where people can socialise more. “The novelty of all-day boozing will

wear off quickly. But it’ll mean people can exercise their freedom of choice over when they drink instead of being ruled by the bar clock.” The White Bear landlord, Mr John Moore, aged 70, president of the Bradford Licensed Victuallers’ Association, said about half his 130 members had decided to open all hours. “I am too — but I’ve been against it,” he said. “There’s the real problem that tenants could find it difficult to get the brewery to agree to switch back to their previous hours if it doesn’t work out.” Pub landlords were being asked to work 90-hour weeks, he said.