Pub puts an end to 'bottomless brunch' after underage girl taken to hospital

A London pub has agreed to stop running ‘bottomless brunch’ events after a 17-year-old girl drank so much she had to be taken to hospital.

The Chelsea Lodge on the King’s Road faced a review of its license after four people became unwell during a boozy event on 26 March.

Some 96 people attended the brunch, 90 of whom were female, and three people ended up being hospitalised.

A police investigation subsequently ruled out drinks spiking but found one of the victims was a 17-year-old girl.

The committee heard that CCTV appeared to show the girl had used a fake ID document to gain access to the pub and had not visibly appeared intoxicated when she arrived.

Hammersmith and Fulham council officers said: “It is apparent that there were serious management failures on the day in question, not least by allowing access to a child, but also by allowing customers to consume so much alcohol they had to be admitted to hospital.”

The council said it took the incident “extremely seriously” and had concerns the pub was unable to safely manage daytime events.

At a licensing hearing on 25 October, Gary Grant, representing the Chelsea Lodge, said “149 out of 150” ‘bottomless brunch’ events run by the pub had taken place without incident.

He added that the pub was an “important communal hub” and did “a lot of good” for the area.

The pub and council reached an agreement on reducing opening hours and adding several conditions to its license.

This included no longer running ‘bottomless brunches’ or similar activities offering unlimited alcohol for a fixed price, and to stop all licensed activities at 1:30am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Addressing the licensing committee on behalf of the pub, Grant said: “We are fighting against what was the most horrendous attack on the hospitality industry as a result of Covid. There is no sector of our society damaged more than hospitality. We will be paying off those debts for decades and we need the hours and freedom from regulatory controls in so far as it’s consistent with the licensing objectives to be able to survive.”

The Chelsea Lodge has also agreed to implement a written policy to tackle drink spiking and has since reviewed its age verification procedures and training of staff.