Fears for pub's future as pier work shuts car park

A WESTON-SUPER-MARE landlord is fearing for his pub after its nearest car park was closed as part of the restoration of the town’s Victorian pier.

- JOHN WIMPERIS Local Democracy Reporter

Captain's Cabin landlord Jonathan Dodd is frustrated at the closure of the car park near Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare

Jonathan Dudd’s family have owned the Captain’s Cabin on Birnbeck Road since the 1980s and in recent years have taken it back from tenants to run themselves. The long-awaited reopening of Birnbeck Pier, just a few minutes’ walk away, should be a major boon for the pub.

But the construction work at the pier has seen the car park on Birnbeck Road almost entirely closed off since September, which Mr Dudd said had reduced footfall at the pub-restaurant. He said: "If this carries on for the next two or three years, like they are telling me is going to happen, they'll be lucky if there’s a Captain’s Cabin left, to be honest."

He said the Captain’s Cabin was a “destination pub” people would often drive to. He said: “We are very very reliant on the car park, Sundays and weekends especially, but it’s not only that. The car park is used for dog walkers who use the whole of the seafront here. It’s a massively frustrating situation.”