Drinkers told to leave pub after singing too loudly

A landlord has defended a decision to ask customers singing loudly to stop and leave his pub.

Jared Dunn said a group of about 30 people started singing in Welsh during a busy Saturday afternoon at the Blue Bell on Castle Street in Conwy.

He said the singing was "loud and people were leaving, people were not finishing their food".

"We have run the pub for 11 years - we don't do singing," he added.

TV and weather presenter Sian Lloyd posted about the incident on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying: "Friends of mine have just been thrown out for singing in their native language."

She added it was "scarcely credible such a frightful pub exists in Cymru".

But Mr Dunn said: "This has nothing to do with singing in Welsh.

"We do open mic night and have bands in the pub but people were bursting into song.

"If they were vaping inside the pub we would ask them to leave - there's house rules."

He said a doorman asked the singers to leave after Mr Dunn heard them while he was working in the kitchen.

"They were singing the national anthem which was beautiful, so we asked them to stop after it ended.

"The doorman was dealing with it. Another doorman came in from next door."

Mr Dunn added: "The pub is for everyone's enjoyment, and they didn't conform to a reasonable request."

On Sunday night, Ms Lloyd said the storm seemed to have passed.

She said she has arranged to meet landlord Mr Dunn, adding that social media had blown the matter "out of proportion".

"Just had a lovely chat with landlord Jared at The Blue Bell in Conwy," she posted on X.

"We agreed on lots, but especially on how much social media tends to blow things out of proportion.

"I am now looking forward to meeting him and clinking glasses over a nice Guinness #IechydDa."

On Monday she posted on X to say she had apologised to Mr Dunn and had expressed her "mortification".

"I genuinely thought my original post was defending the Welsh language and fairly tongue in cheek, hoping to start a conversation, hence the question mark and emoji," she said.

"Clearly I misjudged the situation, as well as the mood, and that did not happen. I was wrong and I stand corrected.

"What I was told about the incident now appears not to be the full story. At the end of the day, I was not there and should not have acted so instinctively... upon hearsay.

"For that, my sincere apologies."

She added: "Hand on heart, I'm appalled at the thought of causing any small business distress."

Correction 5 August 2024: The headline on this story has been amended to reflect that the group of singers were asked to leave the pub because they were singing loudly, not because they were singing in Welsh.

Update: This story was updated on 11 September 2024 to include Sian Lloyd's apology to Mr Dunn.