Landlady’s fury after pub trashed by troublemakers

Police were called to the Thirsty Man on last Friday night (May 3) when troublemakers started smashing everything in sight.

Now landlady Lyn Nicholls is taking action to save the reputation of her pub and put an end to the trouble.

She said: “A minority are spoiling it for the majority and it’s not fair.”

For several weeks, the pub in Old Bank Road has had problems with drinkers dropping their glasses in the car park.

Just after midnight on Friday night, the pub’s DJ reminded customers not to take their glasses outside.

Ms Nicholls said around 40 people on the dancefloor responded by instantly smashing their glasses, and anyone else’s they could lay their hands on.

Staff stopped the music, turned on the lights, and turfed out the troublemakers, but the problems continued outside.

“They were putting glasses in the drive for taxis to run over and were lobbing them across the car park,” Ms Nicholls said.

Police were called to get rid of the rowdy customers and arrived within 10 minutes, by which time they had dispersed.

The Thirsty Man has been run for seven months by Ms Nicholls and her partner Gerry Smyth, who have hired door staff for tonight.

“We knew it had a reputation but it’s a little gem,” Ms Nicholls said, adding that the pub had had a £9,000 refurbishment.

“We’ve put a lot of time, money and effort into it and we have started to build it back up, and I don’t want to see it go back to how it was.”

She said she had only seen a couple of Friday’s troublemakers, who were in their early 20s, in the pub before.

“They were doing a tour of Mirfield and we were the unlucky ones,” Ms Nicholls said.

“During the rest of the week, all day it’s a family-friendly time, and Friday and Saturday night is a time for adults to let their hair down, but they went too far.

“They want to spoil it for everyone and we’re not having it.”