‘Wetherspoons pub banned me for life – I’ve gone to extreme lengths to return’

A man has gone to extreme lengths to return to his local after being barred.

Brian Gorman, 61, has been making homemade banners to protest his “innocence” outside The Square Bottle in Chester. He was a regular in the pub and spent up to three nights a week there before being told he was no longer welcome.

This was after an incident on Saturday, January 11, when Brian, originally from Wigan, was enjoying a late night tipple.

The “night owl” claimed staff at the boozer always announced last orders at 12 on weekdays and 1am on Saturdays. Punters, he claims, are told they have until 20 past to finish their drinks.

But on January 11, Brian claimed a doorman insisted the time to leave was 1.15am – a whole five minutes earlier.

Brian claimed he “politely” questioned the timings before the doorman got “aggressive” and threatened to “chuck” him out.

Recalling what happened, he told Express.co.uk: “He insisted on 1.15am. He wouldn’t even acknowledge the fact that I asked him a question and he was a little bit aggressive, a little bit intolerant, and there were two or three people that I was chatting to that were bemused by his attitude.

“I heard him say at one point ‘I am going to chuck you out’ and I was just standing there kind of bewildered and he left the premises, he didn’t come over, he didn’t talk to me, he just left the premises.

“The next thing I know there was a doorman from across the road who came over and I happened to know this guy and he said ‘everything alright Brian’ and I said ‘yeah I don’t know what this guy’s problem is’. He laughed, we all laughed, and I left.

“So as far as I’m concerned it was just a kind of two or three minute bit of bewilderment… mad.”

Brian returned the following two nights without any drama – but was told on a visit on January 15 that he was barred.

He claimed staff told him it was because of the “altercation” with the doorman. A spokesperson for Wetherspoons also told this site that Brian filmed staff members without their permission on January 15.

Brian, who works in musical theatre, expressed his “absolute bewilderment” at being banned – saying he has never been barred from anywhere in his life and that he prides himself on his affable nature.

He has now started a ‘Justice for Brian Gorman’ Facebook page and has been holding up banners outside the Square Bottle and in the pub across the road.

The unhappy punter also delivered two hand written letters to the pub demanding to know the name of the manager who barred him and a reason why.

Asked if he had any regrets about his behaviour, he said: “I do not regret a single thing because I did absolutely nothing wrong.

“I think it is ridiculous for someone who is a regular customer who gets on very well with the staff and very well with the other customers to bar them for a two minute conversation I had with a very irate and very unprofessional doorman of which I stood very still and stayed very calm.

“I will not back down.”

Brian said he fully understands why some people might think it is silly to go to such trouble to fight it – but he said he had a strong sense of humour and an even stronger sense of injustice.

And asked what his ultimate aims are, he said: “I’ve had one or two people saying ‘why are you bothering’, ‘why don’t you just go to another pub’, that isn’t the issue.

“There are many pubs in Chester and many pubs that I go into. It is not about the pub – I just don’t want somebody barring me for going into a place where I have friends for no reason and they will not give a reason.”

He added: “My aim is for the manager who has barred me to have the guts to put his name to the barring order and to actually explain why he has barred me.

“I don’t really care if they bar me for life, I don’t need to go back there, but it would be very nice if they could simply say, ‘ok, we may have overreacted, we are sorry, come back in’ and I would say ‘no problem, let’s forget it, let’s carry on as before’.”

In a statement, Wetherspoons said: “Mr Gorman has been refused entry because, on 11th January, he was reluctant to finish his drink in the time requested when the pub was closing.

“Unfortunately, there was a further incident when Mr Gorman visited the pub again on 15th January.

“His behaviour was felt to be unacceptable and included filming employees without their agreement. The company’s position has been explained to Mr Gorman.

“Wetherspoon operates a zero tolerance approach to any untoward behaviour to its employees.”