Barminster Council has confirmed that standing in a pub remains legal, although officials have been calling it “vertical drinking” for years without warning anyone that their legs were a licensing matter.
The term appears in the real Westminster council’s licensing policy, which encourages more seating in some venues. There is no proposed blanket ban on standing. Barminster’s reassurance nevertheless arrived too late for several drinkers, who had already begun wondering whether leaning counted as an appeal.
Most customers had understood standing to be the normal position between entering a pub and discovering that every chair contained a coat. They now learn they have been participating in a recognised category of alcohol consumption, entirely without professional development.
At the licensing desk, a man shifting his weight onto the other foot has submitted a revised floor plan. Another has asked whether putting one foot on the brass rail makes him a mixed use development.
The seated alternative presents difficulties. British pub chairs exist to protect coats, reserve places for people who left forty minutes ago and force everyone else to stand. Asking them to accommodate customers would undermine an established local industry.
Barminster is preparing illustrated guidance for drinking at different angles. The first diagram shows a man at ninety degrees. The second shows the same man after somebody explains what his pint costs. Officers are still deciding which department handles that.
The council says ordinary customers have nothing to worry about. Anyone currently standing should remain where they are until the clarification is complete.
Sitting down could constitute a change of use.
Real story: www.westminster.gov.uk, news.sky.com.
