Blackburn with Darwen leader disappointed by Thwaites brewery decision (From Blackburn Citizen)

Blackburn with Darwen leader disappointed by Thwaites brewery decision

1:00pm Thursday 3rd December 2009

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By Chris Hopper »

A COUNCIL leader has said he is “disappointed” at brewery giant Thwaites’ decision to bar people from buying and taking over some of its pubs.

However, Mike Lee, of Blackburn with Darwen Council, also said he could sympathise after the firm put eight East Lancashire pubs, including five in the borough, up for sale with ‘restrictive covenants’.

The contracts, written into property deals, mean anyone buying the inns would be unable to carry on using them as pubs, a move blasted by the Campaign for Real Ale.

The organisation said the restrictive covenants would help kill off Lancashire’s already ailing pub trade.

And Coun Lee said: “I am disappointed that Thwaites is not allowing other people to take over running these pubs, especially as some of them are in areas such Revidge Road where a lot of pubs have already closed.

“The closure of pubs is killing some of the community spirit in towns and people don’t meet others as often as they used to.

“However, to be fair, Thwaites is looking at this from an economic point of view and if people really want to buy a pub, there are other buildings around.

“You cannot expect Thwaites to keep pubs open for one or two customers.”

Coun Lee’s comments come after it was revealed last week that eight Thwaites pubs - including others in Accrington, Padiham and Colne - are up for sale with restrictive covenants.

Thwaites said last week it wanted to “de-pub” areas where “a high density is detrimental to the survival of the trade as a whole”.

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