Latest news with #pubcrawl
BBC News
23-05-2025
- BBC News
Otley Run: Bar crawl venues could have to pay for policing
A bar on the route of one of the country's biggest pub crawls has pushed back against a suggestion that venues should pay a levy for extra Otley Run sees about 4,000 people take part in the three-mile crawl between Headingley and Leeds city centre every have complained about anti-social behaviour, including violence and public urination, and politicians have now called for a voluntary payment from participating pubs and bars to fund police officers."We're getting slammed at every angle [financially] and I don't think we should be the ones expected to foot the bill," Andy Waugh, co-founder of Sixes Social Cricket, said. The pub crawl is not officially classed as an organised event, with drinkers walking between the 19 stops that are under separate leader of Leeds City Council, Jonathan Pryor, called the format a "loophole" and said the authority would be "looking to put pressure on the venues" to improve safety at a public meeting earlier this women were injured in a crossbow attack on the route in April, with a meeting being held to discuss the concerns of people living nearby. Mr Waugh added: "I understand there's a lot of people that come to do the Otley Run on a Saturday and that the services must be stretched, as empathetic as I am with that, we are also stretched as a hospitality business."Month after month, there seems to be more cost layered into our business. Whether it's National Insurance contributions increasing, minimum wage increases. I just don't know how they can justify a levy on an already struggling industry."On Saturdays, Otley Road is busy with thousands of people taking part in the crawl, many of them donning fancy dress costumes. Alfie Heale, who was dressed as a tiger, said it was "absolutely quality, best day out in Leeds"."It brings a lot of people to Leeds."Charlie Mack, a student in the city, said: "It's always good fun. The pubs are making lots of money, it's only one day a week so you can't really complain."Iona Taylor, who was with her friends in a beer garden of a pub, was celebrating her birthday weekend by doing the run."It's hilarious, I would recommend it to everyone. The camaraderie is amazing. It gets hectic. We've got here early to avoid the crowds but it's usually pretty full." In 2014, the city of Nottingham introduced a night-time levy for licensed premises, which covered was revoked in 2022 to ease financial pressure on local Sobel, MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, said he supported the concept."What would be best is if the pubs themselves voluntarily started to pay into a fund, to show willing."We know how much money, more or less, they make on a Saturday, it would be a very small amount of profit to contribute towards the policing of the event." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Climate
- Daily Mail
Beer we go! Otley Runners brave sizzling mini-heatwave to go on 19-pub booze crawl as Britain bathes in temperatures hotter than Ibiza
Revellers today hit the streets of West Yorkshire to take part in the infamous Otley Run pub crawl as Britain basked in temperatures hotter than Ibiza. The party animals were seen in an array of fancy dress outfits, with many taking inspiration from the newly-elected Pope Leo XIV. And as they travelled through the 19-stop journey in Leeds, the swathes of youngsters stopped to pose for photographs as the sun beamed down on them. Some of the most creative costumes on show ranged from attempts at Minnie Mouse to the cast of The Inbetweeners and full suit 'Minions' from the Despicable Me film series. Others, perhaps sensibly dressing for the warmer weather, opted for Hawaiian shirts which they paired with the traditional flower necklace known as a Lei. In Leeds, temperatures peaked at around 20C between 2-3pm, meaning the North Yorkshire city was as hot as parts of the Balearic islands. Meanwhile London was today one of the hottest cities in Europe, with its highs of 25C putting the likes of Lisbon, Barcelona and Rome to shame on the thermostat front. Though it is not all good news for the rest of the weekend on the UK weather map. Forecasters at the Met Office have warned that thunderstorms, hail and lightning could hit parts of Britain tomorrow. Most of this is said to affect South Wales and parts of the West Midlands, with Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey saying there could be 'heavy, short sharp' bursts of rain and hail and lightning. He told MailOnline this morning: 'As is the case with thunderstorms, they're often quite hit and miss. 'Obviously it has been a pretty dry spring so for many areas rain is needed, but because of the heavy nature of these showers, splashing onto hard surfaces, there is the potential for minor localised issues and flooding.' The wet weather could also see areas in Northern Ireland and Scotland over Sunday and Monday affected. But for British partygoers soaking in the Saturday sun, that news is tomorrow's problem, and it certainly didn't dampen spirits today. Some sun worshippers were seen enjoying the baking heat by going paddle boarding in the spring sunshine on River Nidd in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire - around 30 minutes from where the Otley Run takes place. Londoners also flocked to the Thames embankment by Putney riverside in south west London. Pictured: People relaxing in the warm sunshine on the Thames embankment by Putney riverside, south west London But for those who braved the Otley Run today, it showed another marker of defiance two weeks after an extremist tried to massacre youngsters on the route with his crossbow last month. Owen Lawrence, 38, shot two women - aged 19 and 31 - with a crossbow along the route of the pub crawl before turning the weapon on himself on Saturday, April 26. Just hours before Lawrence made the three minute walk from his flat to the Otley Road, he published a Facebook manifesto dubbed 'The Otley Run Massacre'. Under a post titled 'attack information', Lawrence listed his 'targets', which included 'students, night club goers, Otley Run participants', as well as 'neurotypicals, and the police'. Just hours before Lawrence made the three minute walk from his flat to the Otley Road, he published a Facebook manifesto dubbed 'The Otley Run Massacre' He went on to list what category the attack would fall under: 'Mass murder, terrorism, revenge, misogynyic [sic] rage, homicide/suicide.' Lawrence said in the post he would be using a range of weapons including four different types of guns, a crossbow, an 'unbreakable' baseball bat and two lollipop shanks. Lawrence later died in hospital as a result of his injuries.
BBC News
09-05-2025
- BBC News
Otley Run pub crawl crossbow attack raises route safety fear
People living near a popular pub crawl route have called for it to be recognised as an official event so that it can be made safer, after two women were injured in a crossbow victims, aged 19 and 31, were hurt on the route of the Otley Run in Headingley, Leeds, on 26 April. Both have since been discharged from a meeting on Thursday night, politicians and residents called for stricter crowd control and suggested pubs could be asked to pay a fee towards extra Ellis, who lives nearby, said about 4,000 people took part in the pub crawl each weekend and visitors' behaviour was "progressively getting worse". The 19-stop pub crawl has been around for decades and regularly attracts thousands of revellers, often wearing fancy month, the three-mile route became the target of a violent attack in which two women were key suspect, Owen Lawrence, 38, was later arrested and died in hospital of self-inflicted injuries. While the Otley Run had already been the subject of regular discussion among residents, April's attack brought safety issues as well as "easy access" to crossbows into sharp speaking to the BBC on Saturday, people on the pub crawl argued the current issue to debate was a rise in misogynistic views online.A meeting held at St Michael Church in Headingley on Thursday was initially called to address community concerns, but was dominated by discussion of the pub Carl Robinson from West Yorkshire Police told the meeting one police officer and one police community support officer would be allocated to the Otley Run each weekend as a minimum, often with requests for more. Ms Ellis, who attended the meeting, said she found those numbers "crazy"."We have about 4,000 people coming every weekend and we've been told that we have two police officers," she said she was unable to have her nieces and nephews to stay because she "can't explain to a nine-year-old why Batman is punching Spider-Man and shouting horrible things at him"."I think we are very, very lucky that something like what happened two weeks ago hasn't happened before," she said."I want people to have a lovely time and that's not what we are trying to stop."But she said she wanted to "address the responsibility of the council, the police, the lack of resource and funding that we have to be able to police the situation better and make everyone safer". In the past, the Otley Run was mainly frequented by locals and it quickly grew in popularity, with a huge surge in visitors reported following the end of the coronavirus people from all over the country come to take part and residents said they often had to deal with noise, litter and crowds blocking the pavements and their front Jeffries said she usually avoided picking up her grandchildren or going about her daily tasks on a Saturday."You just don't want to be around it," she said."Most of the people on the Otley Run are having fun but they don't see you, they don't see an old lady walking along with her shopping."I've had my shopping knocked out of my hand, not in malice but just because they are shouting at their mate up the road."Residents like Ms Jeffries and Ms Ellis said they hoped the Otley Run could be recognised as an event to better protect those taking part. However, as it was not a recognised event, bringing in event laws to monitor it would be challenging, MP for Leeds Central and Headingley, Alex Sobel, told the acknowledged the size of the Otley Run had "got out of hand", adding: "We need to look at the laws we have and tightening them, bringing more control to the Otley Run."Sobel said one possibility would be to introduce a fee to be paid by the businesses and used to fund policing and support safety."What would be best is if the pubs themselves voluntarily started to pay into a fund, to show willing," he said."There are 17 of them on the route, we know how much money, more or less, they make on a Saturday, it would be a very small amount of profit to contribute towards the policing of the event." Leeds councillor Jonathan Pryor agreed that venues needed to accept responsibility for keeping people safe."I think we want to be really clear that the incident that happened in Headingley a few weeks ago isn't down to them at all, it's down to that individual that did it," he said."But at the same time we need to make sure the venues across the area are playing their part in keeping people, who come and do the Otley Run, safe." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
BBC News
07-05-2025
- BBC News
Otley Run pub drops plan to temporarily admit pub crawlers
Pub drops plans to temporarily admit Otley runners The Golden Beam is not allowed to welcome so-called Otley Runners A pub has decided to withdraw its application to temporarily amend its licence conditions to admit participants of a famous Yorkshire pub crawl. The Golden Beam, in Headingley, Leeds, had applied for five Temporary Event Notices (TENS) allowing them to serve people taking part in the Otley Run on five consecutive Saturdays from 10 May. The JD Wetherspoon pub is not currently allowed to permit entrance to anyone taking part in the pub crawl under the terms of its licence, however venues are permitted to apply for up to 15 TENS a year for special events. A spokesperson for the chain said an email was sent to the licensing authority on Tuesday "requesting withdrawal" of their application.
