08-03-2025
Historic London pub 'saved' from closure amid noise complaints from neighbours
A historic central London pub left facing closure after wealthy neighbours complained about noise has been 'saved'.
The Sekforde feared for its future after residents in Clerkenwell protested to Islington Council about customers talking "at the tops of their voices" and "shrieking".
Their complaints prompted the council to carry out a licence review and propose several new restrictions - including a ban on outside drinking and the shutting of windows and doors, even in summer.
However, following significant public support in favour of the nearly 200-year-old boozer, the majority of the conditions have been scrapped - leaving the pub free to continue serving for centuries to come.
The Sekforde faced an unsure future. (Image: SWNS)
Landlord Harry Smith said he had worried the new rules would spell the end of the Victorian pub's tenure in the capital.
It has served thirsty Londoners since the early 19th century - likely including author Charles Dickens, whose bank was located on the same road.
Mr Smith, 32, said: "It was a weight off. I spent the whole of the last three months thinking, 'I don't know what I'm going to do with myself'.
'I thought I'd have to get a new job and felt guilty that this pub has been going so long and we might have lost it while we were running it.
'But we did feel we were in this unreasonable spot, so it's also vindication."
Many locals had previously praised the watering hole, which first opened in 1829, as a community hub, saying they would be "devastated" if it shut.
But 'public nuisance' complaints from some residents living in the £2m properties surrounding the pub instigated another licence review.
Following a 2019 review, the pub was restricted to only being able to open one window on each floor of the building - making the old Victorian building a "sauna" during summer.
Further rules prohibit the use of one of its main doors after 9pm and a ban on 'vertical drinking' - or drinking whilst standing up - on Sekforde Street.
Locals have shared their happiness that the pub will remain open. (Image: SWNS)
A total of just 20 people were allowed to stand outside the other side of the pub, on Woodbridge Street, past 8pm.
Complainants mentioned "women talking at the top of their voices and shrieking sitting at the illegal tables" outside the pub, adding that there had been "no policing of the noise".
These protestations prompted new rules which would have banned any drinkers from standing outside the pub and limited outdoor seating to just 20.
However, regulars branded the proposed rules as "ridiculous".
Mr Smith, who has run The Sekforde for over five years, says the pub wouldn't have been able to survive under the harsh restrictions.
However, more than a thousand locals backed the pub in its battle against the proposed conditions, praising its role as a "community hub" and opposing the new restrictions.
Mr Smith believes it was their support that has saved the pub and has even led to the relaxing of previous restrictions.
At a licensing meeting on Wednesday (February 26), councillors decided not to impose many of the suggested changes.
This means that people will continue to be allowed to drink outside the pub as long as they remain in a demarcated roped area.
Councillors also said they would relax conditions on windows being closed in the summer months, subject to a 'robust' noise management plan being agreed, the local paper said.
Mr Smith said: 'The licencing department proposed conditions that would have been really difficult to survive with. But by the time the meeting started, they'd seemingly changed their stance.
'I think their change of tune was because of the public pressure they were under.
'I think, ultimately, what made the difference was that the majority of the neighbours on the street came out in full support of us.
'It showed it was just a minority of the neighbours [opposed to the pub]. I think that showing made a big difference.
'15 people wrote in favour of the review (and proposed restrictions) - and we had 1,330 people write in favour of the pub.
'It's almost a hundred to one.
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'One woman, Kerry, grew up on the street and gave a really great speech [at the planning meeting].
'Another woman called Gwen, a headmistress who has lived here for 25 years, said she didn't recognise any of what she heard from the neighbours complaining.
'They were saying how loud it was and how hard their lives have been since the pub reopened seven years ago, how we have been mismanaging the pub…
'But others said they didn't recognise any of it. I think it's the community spirit that saved us."
Islington Council was approached for comment.
