Roadworks hole puts historic pub at risk - owners

The future of a Grade II listed pub and hotel in a North Yorkshire market town is at risk after problems which started after road resurfacing work, its owners have said.

Phil Hall, who co-owns The Black Swan, on Birdgate, in Pickering, said the building's basement had leaked every time it rained since North Yorkshire Council carried out the work in October and had then left a large hole outside the pub in November.

Hall said: "Sick of it is an understatement. The loss to our business is over £50,000 now."

North Yorkshire Council said its engineers were "doing everything we can" to solve the problem, but could not currently find a link between the roadworks and the water leaks at the pub.

The Black Swan was originally a coaching inn which opened in the early to mid-18th Century.

It was Grade II listed in 1975 and has been owned by Hall and his wife Jill for the past 11 years.

Hall, who is an engineer, said the pub's basement had never leaked until Birdgate was resurfaced in early October.

He said he had contacted North Yorkshire Council, which had carried out the resurfacing, and received a reply 31 days later saying the problem would be investigated.

On 27 November, council workers dug a hole which was about 10ft (3m) long and about 6.5ft (2m) deep outside the pub where the leak was happening and that hole still remained, Hall said.

"The building is 400 years old. It was built with lime mortar and now most of the mortar [in the hole] has been washed away, so the building isn’t as stable as it should be."

Jill Hall said they had stopped serving food at the pub and hotel as the flooded basement was now a health and safety risk.

"It is becoming a real strain. We don’t know when we can open, if we can open, what we can do and when we are able to do food again," she said.

“Everything is so difficult in hospitality anyway. It‘s like the straw that broke the camel’s back. We are really unsure of the future of the business."

The hole outside the pub has been surrounded by safety barriers, but that has meant that traffic on Birdgate is down to one lane, with traffic lights in place since November.

A petition calling for a speedy repair to the hole has been signed by at least 500 people.

Andrew Bundy, who owns the Pickering Book Tree, a few doors down from The Black Swan, said the problems being caused by the hole were "affecting trade".

"The quicker it is sorted the better it is for all of us in the town," he said.

There was a campaign running called Totally Locally in an effort to get residents to support local shops and businesses, Bundy explained.

"It is a strong business community, but this kind of disruption does have an impact."

Meanwhile, Matt Wilkinson, from Television House, an electrical retailer on the nearby Market Place, said: "I feel really sorry for The Black Swan.

"It is them who have been affected by it, but it is also starting to affect the rest of the town."

Richard Marr, North Yorkshire Council's highways area manager, said: "We have carried out a number of investigations in the area, including surveying both our drainage and that of Yorkshire Water, but found them to be intact.

"Later this week, a building surveyor will advise us as to whether we can waterproof Mr Hall's building to try and prevent any further water getting in.

“We would like to reassure everyone that we are doing everything we can to resolve the problem.

"But, as yet, we have not been able to establish any link between the work we did, and the issues Mr Hall is reporting."

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