Copper Pots And Wooden Tops: Police Raid Pub Smoker
THERE is no smoke without fire. And there is no smoking in the Copper Pot pub, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
To emphasise the zero-tolerance policy: “Riot squad storms pub after smoker lights up in protest,” says the Mail.
And we are there, immersed in the wood and the larger, sat at a table with Mr John Vaughan. We are watching the cricket. But with only ten minutes left of England’s match against India, the powers that be change the channel to show the preamble before England v Israel in the football.
Indeed, dear reader. The publican has left it late. True fans require at last thee hours of pre-big game enlightenment, without which there is little time to retune the TV and minds to the pundits’ shirts and to fully understand just how huge the match is.
Mr Vaughan is displeased. He complains. But his words are for nought, perhaps drowned out by the BBC’s fan-on-a –sofa Ian Wright screaming “Come On!” and reaching a consensus with the other experts that the game will be tight and scoring early is important.
“So I decided to light up out of protest,” says Vaughan. Things are said between smoker and bar staff. “They pressed a panic button and the next thing I knew there were six policemen in the pub and two outside.”
They storm the pub. We’ve seen the headline. The police tell Mr Vaughan he is in the wrong. He agrees to leave. Riot shields down. Boots unsullied. Dogs unfed.
Says a spokesman: “They explained why he should not be smoking, asked him to leave and he did so happily.”
We are all of us, criminals and non-smokers alike, Breathless with excitement…
Pic: Chi Chi
Posted: 15th, October 2007 | In: Tabloids Comments (3) | TrackBack | Permalink
