Gatekeeper birthday party is gate crashed... by a rat Jun 21 2007
by Abby Alford, South Wales Echo
A BIRTHDAY celebration was ruined after an uninvited guest – a rat – was spotted scurrying across the floor of a pub.
Horrified Kerry-Lynne Doyle is tee-total so knew she had not imagined the rodent at The Gatekeeper on Westgate Street in Cardiff.
The 22-year-old, who had been celebrating her fiance Chris Pyke’s 24th birthday by enjoying a meal with a group of friends on Tuesday evening, said: “It was disgusting.
“Chris’s friend Ali spotted it first, just as last orders were called. She said she thought she saw something moving on the floor and pointed to the table next to us.
“We turned and saw this grey baby rat scurrying away.
“We all spoke to the barman and he didn’t seem too bothered. He said they know they have a mouse problem and have put traps down.
“But I don’t think it was a mouse. We have had rats in our flat before and that’s what it looked like.”
Miss Doyle, of Tremains Court, Brackla, Bridgend, who works as a reporter for Echo sister paper the Glamorgan Gazette, added: “It was a sour end to the evening and we left straight away.
“It’s such a popular bar I think people should know about it.”
Today, a spokesman for pub owners JD Wetherspoon, said: “We are not aware of this particular incident, but if the lady concerned said she saw a rodent then we wholeheartedly apologise and understand that it must have been very upsetting.
“We are aware of a problem with mice and have called in a pest control team to lay bait and have also boarded up the skirting boards to ensure no problems can arise from there.”
After being contacted by Miss Doyle, a food safety officer from Cardiff council visited The Gatekeeper yesterday.
A council spokeswoman said: “The company confirmed they were aware of mice being sighted on the premises and have employed the services of a reputable pest control company to resolve the issue.
“The officer found no pest activity after inspecting the kitchen and food areas and concluded there were no immediate risks to health.
“The officer will continue to monitor the situation to ensure the controls employed by the pest control company remain effective.”
In November, customers were sent running from another Wetherspoons pub in Cardiff, The Central Bar in Windsor Place, after they spotted mice running across the floor.
abby.alford@wme.co.uk
Previous bits on J D Wetherspoon, a not so cheap(any more) chain that employ surley staff, offer a poor customer service(see my complaint bits) here: a corporate fluff letter and also J D wetherspoon a rat hole that is to big to apologise and are unable to resolve complaints(to this day no apology has been forthcoming from them) and are infested with rodents(not going to make any jokes about the management who ban customers who dare complain about mislabeling of beer, short measures etc etc)
In short a McBeer seller, a coporate chain that should not really be defined as a pub. They make a big thing of saying they care about customers, yet ask for a full pint when one of the poorly trained staff fails to serve a full measure, or point out that a beer is off and watch the attitude come across.
I have even been told of one manager in a Wetherspoon pub in Newport who has barred people for daring to complain.
First bit on the rodent problem and also here
Tags: Camra
Real Ale
Mice
Julie Van Quickelberg
J D Wetherspoon
Newport Gwent
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I worked for Wetherspoons. Worst job i ever had. The managers there are incapable of training staff and leave them to get on with it. To stick up for the staff, it's not their fault. Its the managers who are too lazy to get off their behinds out of their office to teach the staff all they need to know. I know if i knew what ive learnt over time when i started (when i should have been taught it) i'd be a lot more relaxed.
There's also been a mice problem where i used to work. Funny how that works, can't be very healthy if mice are running about in Wetherspoons everywhere. Says something about the company, most probably as incapable as the managers at my old work. I dont even know how they became managers, maybe they stayed there longer than a month? Such high staff turnover and they wonder why..
True JD Wethercrap suck the big one.
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