A British great-grandfather said on Tuesday he has decided to boycott his local pub after being asked to remove his flat cap under rules designed to stop thugs hiding their faces from security cameras.
John Lalor used to drop into the Jolly Falstaff pub just metres from his home in Warrington, north-west England, virtually every day for a chat with friends over a pint of bitter.
In common with many generations of northern English men, he would go to the bar wearing the traditional flat cloth cap known in such parts for decades.
But a recent visit ended when staff asked Lalor to remove the cap under new rules designed to stop trouble-makers shielding their faces from closed-circuit cameras by wearing baseball caps.
Lalor — who is 71, walks with a stick and has a heart complaint — refused.
“I thought it was a joke. I asked for a pint and they said: ‘Sorry, but we can’t serve you if you wear that,'” he said.
“I’d never heard anything so ridiculous, so I said something like: ‘Don’t be so bloody daft. Just give me my drink.’
“They wouldn’t, so I just said, ‘Stuff it, then,’ and walked out.
“I always take my cap off anyway, once I have sat down, so as to feel the benefit when I leave.”
He added: “I’m hardly likely to be causing much trouble at my age. And if I do, well they used to see me in there every night of the week, so I’m sure they would have no trouble recognising me.”
A spokesperson for the pub chain that owns the Jolly Falstaff said she sympathised with Lalor’s plight, but added “we can’t have one rule for some customers and another rule for others”.
Lalor said he now walks to another pub further away where his cap is not a problem. — AFP