Kirkby micro pub seeks permission to extend beer garden opening hours

A photo showing the inside of the Dog House at Kirkby micro pubThe Dog House at Kirkby
© Big Dogs Pub & Kitchen Ltd via Facebook

The owners of the Dog House at Kirkby are asking district planners for permission to open its beer garden for an extra hour each day. The micro pub in Station Street, Kirkby in Ashfield, first opened its doors in 2017 after local firm Big Dogs Pub & Kitchen took over a former greengrocers.

Currently, the micro pub has to close the beer garden at 9 pm at night. In the planning application, company director David Fewster said that this means that the pub can “become very busy and overcrowded” when customers have to leave the garden.

“The pub has grown to become a real community hub with not a single bit of trouble”, he said. “Due to the size of the pub it can become very very busy and when the garden has to be shut at 9 pm. It can cause major overcrowding within the pub.”

He said that the micro pub has had “no issues or complaints” about the operation of the garden and that the removing the restriction “ensures the business can continue to trade successfully.” The company is asking planners for permission to extend the opening from 9.00 pm to 10.00 pm. They suggest that any concerns could be met by allowing the extension for a trial period of 12 months.

Big Dogs Pub & Kitchen also operate Dog House micro pubs in Hucknall and Kimberley.