A Staffordshire pub linked to an outbreak of coronavirus failed to take customers’ names – meaning they can’t be traced – after hundreds were crammed in and ten people caught the virus.
Drinkers today described the atmosphere inside the 17th century Crown and Anchor in the market down of Stone as a ‘free for all’ as they criticised the lack of social distancing.
Erin Grocott, 18, from Newcastle, said: ‘The pub didn’t take our details and there was no bouncer on the door limiting the numbers of people inside the pub until later in the evening. There was no table service, people were just ordering at the bar. It was like a normal Saturday night.’
Sales executive Simon Williams, 36, who was on a stag weekend at the pub that night, told MailOnline: ‘We couldn’t believe how busy it was getting. It was horrendous.’
Staffordshire County Council today criticised the pub for not keeping a ‘comprehensive’ list of customers, with Dr Richard Harling, its health director, telling MailOnline this made their track and trace efforts ‘more challenging’.
Punters and staff who were at the Crown and Anchor between July 16 and 18 are now being told to urgently get swabs done, as well as anyone who has been in close contact with visitors to the pub.
Locals were seen queuing today by a new testing centre has been set up 350 yards away at a car park. People who were out in Stone on one of those nights who have since displayed symptoms despite not going to the venue should also now get a test.
Boris Johnson today urged Britons not to ‘delude themselves’ that the coronavirus crisis is over and urged them to continue social distancing, although he insisted the UK has infections under ‘a measure of control’.
His comments came after Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied stoking up Covid-19 panic and hysteria after he warned a second wave was ‘starting to roll across Europe’.
Britain announced another 763 new coronavirus cases yesterday, up 14 per cent in a week — but way below the 5,000 new cases per day that were being recorded at the high of the outbreak.
Drinkers today described the atmosphere inside the 17th century Crown and Anchor in the market down of Stone as a ‘free for all’. Erin Grocott and Maisie Sprigg, both 18, from Newcastle, were in the pub on Saturday night but left because it was too busy
Locals were seen queuing today by a new testing centre has been set up 350 yards away at a car park. People who visited the pub or have been in contact with those who have are being urged to get a test. Anyone who went out in Stone from between July 16 and 18 and are displaying symptoms – despite not visiting the pub – should also get a test
Tyler Savage and Luke Walsh visited the beer garden at the Crown and Anchor on Saturday night and said it was ‘packed’ with 400 people.
Meanwhile, local resident Ayrron Robinson filmed a video of people packed into the beer garden earlier this month, commenting at the time: ‘If we do have to go into local lockdown then the pub has a lot to answer for.’
The pub – which is not part of a chain and is now shut – is owned by Teresa Pinto, 47, and her husband Custodio Pinto, 51, who took over in 2013.
The venue said in a statement that it would ‘review our risk assessment’ before reopening in the town, which has a population of more than 16,000.
As locals continued getting swab at testing centres in Stone today, drinkers described the chaotic scenes inside the historic venue.
Hundreds more people have booked an appointment online get themselves tested today, following on from the 502 people who attended the walk-in testing centre in the town yesterday.
Eleven people have now tested positive so far after attending the pub on the weekend of July 16, 17 and 18, but authorities are expecting this number to rise as the testing continues.
Simon Williams, 36, a sales executive, arrived at 8pm on Saturday and had intended to stay all night. But due to their concerns about the lack of social distancing measures, they disbanded at 10pm.
‘The stag do was ruined, really,’ he told MailOnline. ‘One of the tills wasn’t working and that meant that an even bigger queue built up at the other one. There was hand sanitiser on the tables but nobody was using it. It was too busy to think. It was a nightmare.’
The group of friends has since been tested for Covid and are anxiously awaiting the results. ‘We haven’t got any symptoms but it’s still a worry,’ Mr Williams said.
‘The testers said that they would only call us if we tested positive, so we’re living in limbo at the moment.’
The overcrowding was partly caused by the rain, he added, together with the fact that the Wetherspoons over the road was operating a strict one in, one out policy.
‘There was a queue outside the Wetherspoons as they were being very strict,’ he said. ‘When it started to rain, everyone just dived into the Crown and Anchor because they weren’t running a queue system.
‘Later on, when the doormen came on, they started to prevent more people coming in. But by that time, there were about 500 people inside and the damage had been done. That was when we left. We felt really bad, as the stag do was a bit of a damp squib.’
Mother-of-four Gemma Harper, 39, set up a local coronavirus support group on Facebook at the start of the pandemic.
When the outbreak occurred, her page became the hub for providing information to members of the community.
The charity worker said: ‘On the night of the video there were 200-odd people in there. The video went viral and people started messaging me saying you couldn’t get to the bar, it was five deep, there was no social distancing. The landlord didn’t take anybody’s details, so he had no tracing system.
‘It wasn’t just the Saturday night. It was the Friday night and the previous weekend, a total of three nights when the pub was absolutely jam packed.
‘It was just a free-for-all in the pub. So many people have now come in for tests because the young people who were at the pub have been mingling in the community ever since, which will likely make the infection rate quite high.
‘It’s a pub but turns into a late nightclub later. It’s the only place that is open late in the area so it attracts people from all over, and it was completely rammed.’
Dawn Perrins and Claire Leese didn’t visit the pub but were told to get a test anyway by their employer due to the outbreak in the Staffordshire market town
Staffordshire County Council criticised the pub (pictured) for not keeping a ‘comprehensive’ list of customers, with Dr Richard Harling, its health director, telling MailOnline this made their track and trace efforts ‘more challenging’
The testing unit will run for four days, from Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, August 2. It will open from 11am to 3pm on Thursday and Friday, and from 10.30am to 3.30pm on Saturday and Sunday. Pictured: Locals queuing for a test today
Today dozens of drinkers were facing an anxious wait for their coronavirus test results after visiting the pub on previous nights.
Dan Draper visited the pub on July 18 and said ‘more and more’ people were being allowed inside.
The 43-year-old, from Stone, said: ‘Early doors it was ok, but as the night went on more and more people were being let in. The bouncer was just letting people in. They didn’t take any of our details.
‘It was concerning, I was in the beer garden and tried to keep away from people as much as possible. But it was just getting more and more difficult. We then went inside as there was less people inside than out.
‘I’ve had no symptoms, but I’ve taken the advice from the council. I’ve got family and wanted to get tested. You’ve just got to get it done and it will give me peace of mind.’
The testing unit will run for four days, from Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, August 2. It will open from 11am to 3pm on Thursday and Friday, and from 10.30am to 3.30pm on Saturday and Sunday.
Today the council said their efforts to get more people tested had been hampered by the pub failing to write down the names and contact details of all of their customers.
Dr Richard Harling, Director of Health and Care at Staffordshire County Council said: ‘Pubs and restaurants are asked to keep a record of customers to help with contact tracing in the event of a case on their premises.
‘This pub did not have a comprehensive record of customers for the period that we are interested in, and this has made contact tracing more challenging.
‘This is a timely reminder for pubs and restaurants about the importance of social distancing. It’s also up to customers to look around them and do the right thing to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.’
Sir Bill Cash, the Tory MP for Stone since 1997, said he was ‘very surprised’ to hear what had happened at the Crown and Anchor.
‘I know the people who run it and there’s no suggestion of any degree of irresponsibility – it seems to me they’re the kind of people who would not want this to happen,’ he told the Stoke Sentinel.
Another local pub in Stone, The Swan, has shut down because of the local outbreak, although to date it has not been linked to any confirmed cases.
MailOnline has contacted the Crown and Anchor for comment.
A man self administers a coronavirus swab test at a walk in testing centre in Stone today. The testing unit will run for four days, from Thursday, July 30 to Sunday, August 2. It will open from 11am to 3pm on Thursday and Friday, and from 10.30am to 3.30pm on Saturday and Sunday
Dan Draper visited the pub on July 18 and said ‘more and more’ people were being allowed inside. The 43-year-old, from Stone, said: ‘Early doors it was ok, but as the night went on more and more people were being let in’
Boris Johnson today urged Britons to continue obeying social distancing restrictions. He is pictured greeting a police officer with a touch of the elbow when he visited the headquarters of North Yorkshire Police today
Boris Johnson today urged Britons not to ‘delude themselves’ that the coronavirus crisis is over but insisted the UK has infections under ‘a measure of control’ after a ‘massive success’ in driving the virus down.
The Prime Minister said the public should not ‘lose focus’ and pointed to evidence that local outbreaks are ‘bubbling up’ in 30 different areas.
‘Clearly this country has had a massive success now in reducing the numbers of those tragic deaths,’ he said. ‘We’ve got it at the moment under some measure of control. The numbers of deaths are well, well down.’
The number of deaths was down to a rolling daily average of 66 this week, down from a maximum of 1,445 during one 24-hour period in April.
However, Mr Johnson warned the UK is not yet ‘out of the woods’ of the coronavirus crisis after official statistics showed England had the highest levels of excess mortality in Europe in the first half of 2020.
His comments came after Health Secretary Matt Hancock denied stoking up Covid-19 panic and hysteria after he warned a second wave was ‘starting to roll across Europe’.
Today BBC broadcaster Nick Robinson repeatedly asked Mr Hancock if he was being hysterical about rising cases in Europe and the UK because infection rates are nowhere near the lockdown peak and are likely to be a symptom of society returning to a new normal.
Mr Robinson also asked if he was overreacting because of a fear of repeating mistakes Number 10 made at the start of the outbreak, such as not quarantining travellers from abroad.
The Health Secretary said: ‘No, it’s not [risking hysteria]. I’m the Health Secretary in the middle of the pandemic.
‘We are absolutely determined to protect this country and it saddens me we are seeing these rises elsewhere but I will be vigilant and we will move fast if we need to because that is what the virus requires and the virus moves fast and so must we.’
Labour MP Chris Bryant today called for ministers to calm down, saying ‘we need a stiletto not a sledgehammer’ to tackle clusters of coronavirus. He said: ‘It makes me so angry the government are so loose with their language. There isn’t a second wave rolling out across Europe. There are worrying signs of individual spikes of increased infection in some areas.’
Britain announced another 763 new coronavirus cases yesterday, up 14 per cent in a week — but way below the 5,000 new cases per day that were being recorded at the high of the outbreak. Cambridge University academics believe outbreaks are getting bigger in the stay-cation hotspots of the South West and South East of England but are only slightly worse.
