My dd popped to the pub this afternoon.

[Ponchodreams]

My dd has been at her friend's this afternoon. When she got home she informed me that they'd both popped in the local pub for a drink and a packet of crisps. Now I'm sure this was a lovely afternoon for them both and I don't suspect them of any dodgy behaviour, but they are only 12😨!! I am slightly bemused by this as it's ridiculous, but would you say anything to the pub???

I do question whether that’s safe. There are enough dodgy men around, but inebriated ones ..

I’m quite aware of that thanks 🤨. Have you not followed the context of the comment I was responding to?

I was asked how a pub if they employ an under 18 behind the bar can get round them not being allowed to serve alcohol unless an adult approves it. So I suspect it would be exactly the same method as employed in the co-op.

Wetherspoons take it too far, I could have a soft drink and a burger in one of them aged 23 because I didn't have ID. My boyfriend did have ID but because he was with me he wasn't allowed to buy us anything unless he was my dad 🙄

Now this was going back several years but as you can tell I'm still pretty sore about it!

At 12 I was going to my local pub for a game of pool and a soft drink but that's going back even further.

The last pub I worked in didn't ban unaccompanied under 16s although I don't recall getting very many. Plus even if we did ban them on a busy day it's impossible to know if they were with an adult. I will send my 10 year old up for his own drink if I'm in a pub with him, they can't keep track of who is with who.

Wetherspoons don’t allow dogs in. Doesn’t mean it’s illegal for dogs to be in pubs 😁

Did she have a pony? Sometimes we would go on our ponies and have the puddings on the beer tables outside 🤣

No, only bikes.

I think it’s hilarious too !
Cheeky and independent 👏😆

In a bar you’d be serving 90% alcoholic drinks, every round of drinks ordered would need to be verified by another adult - so it’d be time consuming and end up pointless- might as well just get the. Adult to do the work

in a corner grocery shop it’d be less than 20%

I think I would mention it to the pub if they're risking their licence by serving unaccompanied 12 year olds. If you think it's not a suitable place for your DD to be then tell her not to do it again. I would also check with the friend's parents that you're all on the same page regarding repeat visits.

Does the pub do food? Proper meals I mean, not just crisps etc.

If so, the pub hasn't actually done anything illegal, even if the kids didn't have a meal.

https://www.lawble.co.uk/children-in-pubs/

"However, it is an offence to allow a child under the age of 16 to be unaccompanied on licensed premises (i) at any time when the premises are being used exclusively or primarily for the supply and consumption of alcohol, or (ii) between midnight and 5am when the premises are open for on-sales of alcohol on that day."

I'm presuming that they weren't there between midnight and 5am, so as long as the pub was serving food, they're fine.

I can't imagine many pubs actually allowing this though, having a bunch of unattended kids around rather kills the intended vibe!

The subject would never have come up with my DC. It wouldn't have occurred to me that they would even think of going into a pub at that age.

I’m not saying it’s likely to happen. Although pubs do employ 16yos as a glass collectors and I guess this would allow them to serve if it got busy.

If all the other person behind the bar has to do is “give the nod” it’s not that onerous and the benefit to the pub is a much lower minimum wage so some landlords may love it.

or a bar somewhere like David Lloyd could employ an under 18yo, most of the time it’s soft drinks, food orders and coffee especially during the day. So wouldn’t even need to ask for “the nod” that often

I dont really understand the issue? It was the middle of the day and they had a J20?
Unless it's a rough place where everyone is pissed all day long, I wouldn't see a problem.
Our local pub would be absolutely fine. Mainly because it's too extortionate for anyone to be getting pissed in in the middle of the day! But it's lovely with an open fire and big comfy chairs. I go in there for a cup of tea sometimes. I wouldn't begrudge my kids a j20 lunch in there!

Why is everyone so up in arms about this?

Presumably the pub sells food in which case they didn’t do anything wrong.

Haha class 🤣
We were going in them and nightclubs at 14 year old!! Not drinking soft drinks neither 😬 Then we used to get on the last bus home for a half, parents never had a clue! Glad that sort of stuff isn’t allowed for my daughter’s generation now!

I think it’s great. It’s really made me smile!

But we don’t know that the girls didn’t drive to the pub in a parent’s car, then order double G&Ts. 😃

OP, please don’t report the pub - they will have a huge amount of bureaucratic hassle and enquiries - for what was certainly an honest mistake.

Unless of course they did serve them double G&Ts. Or even singles. 😃

I think it's really very cute. I don't see the problem. If they can be trusted to go out by themselves, then getting a drink and crisps at a pub seems quite mature of them.

That's funny, I personally wouldn't say anything to the pub. I can imagine my DD doing that tbf 😅

Well obviously they wouldn't serve them alcohol. I guess if it was a really rough blokey run down pub that's seen better days, had a reputation for drug dealers and reeks of farts then I'd be a bit concerned. Especially If they'd never been there before.

But if it's the local one you've been to as a family and they do admit children then it's fine, during the day. No worse than them getting a soft drink in an unfamiliar cafe. At least if the regulars and staff know them they'll probably be safer in the pub.

It wouldn't bother me. Sorry MN for not being outraged. Sometimes DC and I go for a walk and stop in to the nearby pub for a latte for me and hot chocolate for them. If dS 12 was hanging out nearby with friends it wouldn't seem like a strange thing to do. He has started sometimes going to a cafe with a friend. It could just as easily have been the pub.

lol. Can’t see the problem.

Depends where you live. I grew up in an area that children were t allowed in a pub even with an adult. Still doesn’t

Now live in an area where it isn’t such a draconian rule and going to a pub is no different than going to a cafe
They weren’t drinking alcohol

I think it all depends where you live. Around here the worse you get is a Toby Carvery or Wetherspoons. Blokey pubs went bankrupt years ago

I agree I think mention it to them because they need to tighten up becuase serve a different under 16 and that parent does complain they could be in breach of their licensing conditions

because if in England/Wales and it’s primary purpose is to serve alcohol they are in breach