Outraged pensioner banned from favourite pub over 'catastrophic misunderstanding'

A pensioner has said he's the victim of a 'catastrophic misunderstanding' after getting barred from his favourite pub.

82-year-old Ivor Rodgers of Hessle, has been a regular at The Beech Tree pub in the nearby village of Kirk Ella for over 20 years and often goes there for lunch with a friend.

However, he's ended up being barred from the place after an incident in March which be believes to have been a misunderstanding.

In late March, he was in the pub with his mate and had a voucher for 25 percent off up to six meals, but when it came time to pay he tried to buy one meal with cash and the other with a card.

When this ran into problems, he decided to ditch his discount and the server said they'd send over the manager to try and sort things out, though nobody came to chat with Ivor afterwards.

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He decided to email the pub when he got home and was offered a £10 voucher by way of apology, but when he next got back to the pub he received some troubling information.

"When I approached the bar to order an initial pint, I was informed that the lady who usually served me had decided not to serve me," the 82-year-old said.

"I was absolutely mortified that she had, for whatever reason, decided not to serve me, so I naturally attempted to speak with her to try to reconcile."

"A young man then appeared and poured me a drink, and I asked why I had been refused service, especially as I've always been welcomed in the pub. He assured me that although the lady would not be serving me again, I could still eat and drink there."

Once he got home from the pub Ivor decided to contact their owning company, after emailing them he got a phone call telling him he'd been barred from The Beech Tree.

Ember Inns, the company that owns The Beech Tree, said they didn't allow guests to 'behave in a way that causes upset to other guests or to our team'.

The pensioner has insisted that he did not use any bad or intimidating language and he's offered to make an apology for any offence he may have caused.

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He's said he's sure this is all a 'catastrophic misunderstanding' and he was 'not sure what I have done to justify the ban'.

While he thinks getting barred from his favourite pub 'blights my reputation' he insisted he'd be willing to apologise to the lady who served him 'without any hesitation' and 'would never wish her ill in any way at all'.

Ivor said the lady behind the bar had 'always been lovely and helpful', especially with the friend he often took for lunch at the pub who has a health condition - they'd been at the pub for the meal to celebrate the end of a three-month stay in hospital.

Ember Inns have released a statement on the 82-year-old's ban from The Beech Tree.

They said: "Whilst we can’t comment on individual guest experiences, we can confirm our policy that occasionally in situations where guests behave in a way that causes upset to other guests or to our team we have to refuse service.

"These decisions are never taken lightly, but we have to ensure our guests and team members have a positive experience when they visit or are working with us, so regretfully when we are put in this position through poor behaviour we do ask guests to refrain from visiting us."