A BREWERY says it wants an amicable end to the row involving a York pub landlord who has had to use a scaffolding staircase to get into the flat above since being sacked for smoking in his bar.

Solicitors for Tadcaster brewery Samuel Smith’s have written to Paul Brown’s lawyers to request him to vacate the flat above the Brown Cow as quickly as possible, saying the brewery trusts no further action will be necessary.

The tone of the letter from Cobbetts solicitors of Manchester contrasts with an earlier one from the firm, which warned Mr Brown he and his wife, Carol, were occupying the flat as trespassers and were required to vacate the premises by March 4, or face the risk of court action and a claim for costs.

But Mr Brown insisted today he still had no intention of leaving the flat in Hope Street, off Walmgate, until the brewery returned a £1,000 bond which he had paid when he became manager a couple of years ago.

He also said he was still appealing to the company against his dismissal and would then take the matter to an employment tribunal if the appeal was dismissed, as he expected.

The Press exclusively revealed, pictured, earlier this month how Mr Brown had been dismissed for gross misconduct by the brewery after it discovered he had been caught smoking in the Brown Cow bar by a York licensing officer and fined.

The brewery arranged for a temporary staircase made with scaffolding put up at the back of the pub, which Mr Brown and his wife had to use to get into the flat through a window.

Mr Brown said he had only lit up after closing the pub early one evening, having wrongly believed that smoking legislation did not apply in a shut pub.

He later won the backing of the UKIP MEP Godfrey Bloom, who said he thought the reaction of both the authorities and the brewery had been over the top.

The brewery has consistently declined to comment on the matter, but the latest letter from Cobbetts states Mr Brown’s “service occupancy” meant his right to reside automatically terminated when his employment came to an end.

It states: “Normal rules of tenancy do not apply to occupational licences, rather the same rules apply to our clients as they do to trespassers.” The firm said Samuel Smith’s would be contacting Mr Brown shortly to arrange an appeal hearing. “Your clients should rest assured that they will have the opportunity to put forward their full grounds of appeal at the hearing and the company will respond appropriately.”