THE OWNERS of a pub in York could lose their licence after giving away free drinks on Remembrance Sunday. 

Nigel Cookson and his partner Jo Cashon run The Grey Horse in Elvington.

But the couple fear they will lose their licence – and the pub with it – after an incident this Sunday (November 8). 

In a post on Facebook, Nigel said: “It’s with a heavy heart myself and Jo need to announce we are no longer the hosts at The Grey Horse. Some of you may be aware we took it upon ourselves to give free drinks away on Remembrance Sunday.

“Unfortunately our gesture of goodwill upset one resident who objected to this and called the police. This means we have had to relinquish the licence.”

He said the police “have decided to withdraw Jo’s DPS licence and won’t allow me to hold one, this means we will need to move to another county other than North Yorkshire”.

Every venue with an alcohol licence must have a DPS, a designated premises supervisor.

Now a petition has been launched to keep them as the owners.

The petition, created by Caitlin Hynes, said: "As most of you know from the incident on remembrance Sunday we are at risk of losing the pub, we ask if you could help by signing this petition to help show the licensing officer how much of an impact this will have on the village.

"We have met so many amazing people in this village and we are not ready to leave and thank you all for your support." 

The pub is owned by the company Punch Pubs. 

 Operations Director of Punch Pubs, Robin Belither, said: “As responsible landlords, we take our licensing objectives & legal requirements very seriously. Unfortunately, the recent breach of COVID regulations made mandatory by the Government has left us with no choice but to follow the advice of the authorities in order to protect the long term future of the pub.

"We are in communication with Jo & Nigel and are supporting them as best we can at this difficult time. We would like to thank the community for the support they have shown Jo & Nigel this week and for the continued support of their local pub”

North Yorkshire Police said the licence had not been revoked - but an investigation was underway. 

A statement said: "The Covid Regulations are in place to protect the public.

"On this occasion - around three hours after a low-key Remembrance Sunday wreath-laying within the village during which the parish council encouraged residents to participate in the Royal British Legion doorstep two-minute silence to discourage physical gathering due to Covid-19 - there was a report of a gathering in the beer garden and smoking area of licensed premises with people consuming alcohol from wine and beer glasses.

"The attending officers established that the group were from different households, they were not socially distanced and none of them were wearing face masks or face coverings to mitigate the risk of infection from coronavirus.

"Those present left the licensed premises without any further action being taken after the officers engaged with them, explained the current restrictions and encouraged them to leave.

"However, due to the circumstances of the incident, a person in control of the premises was issued with a Penalty Notice for Covid-19 for breaching the regulations.

"An investigation into the matter is ongoing by North Yorkshire Police’s licensing department and City of York Council’s Public Protection services. The police and council are working with the premises’ license holders.

"The license has not been revoked. A revocation of a premises licence or personal licence would be determined by the licensing sub-committee if any review proceedings were brought before them.

"As stated continuously throughout the multi-agency response to the pandemic, the use of enforcement is always the last resort."