A pub in Oldham has issued a lengthy apology after telling a customer that breastfeeding their baby on a Friday night was ‘not acceptable’.
The Angel Inn in Lees had been responding to a negative review from a customer, who had claimed they were told to leave as children and dogs were not allowed in the pub after a certain hour.
The scathing review blasted the pub for ‘shocking customer service’ and ‘money grabbing behaviour’.
The Angel Inn responded to the reviewer: “You also proceeded to breast feed your baby in a pub at 8.30 on a friday night whilst drinking strong alcoholic spirits that is not acceptable,” – a statement that they have since apologised for.
The initial review left for The Angel Inn. Credit: Facebook
The pub claims that the group of four adults, two dogs and a baby arrived and ordered drinks before it was noted that they had animals and an underage person in their party.
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They say that pub staff allowed the group to stay and finish their drinks and told them they would need to leave afterwards, but that the group ‘totally took advantage’.
The Angel Inn posted: “They [dogs and children] are not allowed in on a friday night at 8.30pm but seen as one of your members of the party ordered drinks before mentioning you had dogs our staff happily allowed you to stay to have the one drink to which your party totally too advantage off by dragging it out as long as possible, playing pool and lying all your coats on the floor of the tap room for the dogs.”
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Their response continued: “You also proceeded to breast feed your baby in a pub at 8.30 on a friday night whilst drinking strong alcoholic spirits that is not acceptable but yet again as my staff are polite they still offered to let you atay and deink your drink to which they did not have too.”
After receiving backlash from people for their breastfeeding comment, The Angel Inn issued a public apology, saying they are ‘upset and deeply sorry for any distress caused’.
They wrote: “We would like to publicly apologise for a comment made earlier by myself which I worded wrong and understandably caused offence. Myself and the staff working here have absolutely and rightly so no problem with breastfeeding, and that is not what the issue is about.
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“Rather than responding to the private messages and comments we are receiving I’d like to address the situation publicly.
“A group came to our establishment yesterday evening whilst I wasn’t on the premises and was served by my staff. The situation was not handled in our best interest as regrettably the group was served within hours that we do not allow children or animals on the premises for the safety reasons. We had a large band due to start and the group came in with two large dogs and a newborn baby. They was asked to move into the taproom (a quieter area) and told they could finish their drinks however they needed to leave soon due to our license.
“The group was clearly unhappy about this which is why the initial bad review has been made, please accept my apologies for the bad use of words made toward breastfeeding as that is not what was meant, my staff informed me that the woman breastfeeding was drinking spirits and the group was drunk with a newborn baby which encouraged my response to the initial complaint (worded wrong which is why I’m apologising as these are not my views).
“The group took advantage of our lenience with regards to our rules by drinking at their leisure and proceeding to play games of pool after being informed again they needed to drink up.
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“Upon reflection, we understand the group should not have been served in the first place which is something we will address with our team.
“Please be mindful that whilst you slander the business, tagging newspapers and private messaging the owners with threats and insults, the livelihood of many people is at risk which is unfair based on a comment made by one person. As owners, we put our hearts and souls into this pub. We are upset and deeply sorry for any distress caused by this situation.”
Featured image: Google Maps
Oldham
Oldham mansion that starred in an iconic pop music video is up for sale
Thomas Melia
A Greater Manchester mansion that’s featured in one of the most famous music videos of the past decade is now up for sale.
Situated in the picturesque village of Uppermill, Oldham, Ashcroft House is currently listed at £2,350,000 accepting offers in the region of this figure.
The property has six bedrooms, six baths and five reception rooms – this mansion is a party host’s dream.
Ashcroft House has four storeys with the lower ground floor currently set up as a gym space and the ground floor boasting an eye-catching grand entrance hall.
This isn’t everything the lower ground floor has to offer. There are a number of breakout rooms such as a wine store, cinema room and your own personal steam room.
When going up another flight of stairs, the first floor’s main selling point besides the very large balcony is the matched walk in wardrobes paired with each of the six sleeping quarters, yes please!
The girls styling themselves in one of the many walk in wardrobes at Ashcroft House.The bold statement front door in the Oldham mansion.Credit: Youtube (@littlemix)
Finally, if that wasn’t enough to draw you in, there is another flight of stairs leading to the second floor which is currently acting as the house’s ever-impressive storage area.
With the rolling hills of Saddleworth nearby and a local pub a ten minute walk away, how could life possibly get any better?
Oh wait it does! In 2016 one of the UK’s best selling girl groups of all time shot a music video for their worldwide hit right here in these very four walls.
X Factor prodigies and three time BRIT award winning girl group Little Mix perched up with their film crew to spend 21 hours recording the video for their groundbreaking single ‘Hair’.
The video itself has amassed nearly 500 million views on social media platform Youtube since being released eight years ago.
The grand staircase that greets you as you enter this Greater Manchester property.The Little Mix girls having a bite to eat in Ashcroft House.Credit: Youtube (@littlemix)
The previous owner of the house even revealed that once the music video shoot wrapped up, the girls stayed with the family to share a slice of pizza or two.
If you’re interested in owning a piece of pop culture history or just as nosey as we are you can take a virtual tour of this mansion in Oldham here.
The Egyptian Room – Greater Manchester’s grandest new food hall has just opened in Oldham
Daisy Jackson
One of Greater Manchester’s grandest spaces has been reborn as a food hall and bar, with six traders inside.
This part of Oldham’s Old Town Hall, now with an ultra-modern new extension standing alongside its historic porticoed frontage, is now home to the 150-capacity space.
The old Egyptian Room’s original features, like its beautiful ceramic tiled walls and pillars, and its arched windows, have been perfectly preserved.
And now there are green leather booths and large tables sprawled around the space too.
The new food hall, The Egyptian Room, has traders serving everything from pizza and pasta to noodles and gyros.
Ply Pizza are here serving heaped bowls of pasta, including beef shin parpadelle and carbonara, plus their signature pizzas like the pistachio pesto topped with a gooey burrata.
TukTuk has a menu full of Cambodian goodness like light bite street food items, sharing platters, spicy noodles and stir fries.
TukTuk Cambodian food at The Egyptian Room. Credit: The Manc Group
Seacoles is a new name, a Caribbean trader serving tacos and ‘splits’ (which are fried dumplings stuffed with fillings like Cajun spiced stripped beef steak and jerk chicken), and huge plates of curry and rice and peas.
Then there’s The Last Stop, with smash burgers, gyros and loaded fries, and Wings of Power, where there are crispy-coated wings, tenders and burgers.
Arooj Shah, leader of Oldham Council, said: “The old town hall, what The Egyptian Room is part of and this whole complex here, was a really derelict, unloved building.
Pizzas by Ply at The Egyptian Room. Credit: The Manc GroupSeacoles Caribbean food at The Egyptian Room. Credit: The Manc GroupTukTuk Cambodian food at The Egyptian Room. Credit: The Manc Group
“Jim [McMahon MP] had a vision for this whole building and the one thing Jim and I do share is our passion for Oldham’s heritage buildings and he had a vision to make use of something that was unloved and derelict for a long time.
“The importance of that was not just the history and the contribution of what happened in these buildings before us but actually as a nod to say that even in the most difficult of times, because it’s been hard the last 14 years, it’s a nod to say how much we value our residents.
“How even in the most difficult times, this inspiration and the ambition of our partners is a nod to every single one of our residents and communities, no matter who you are or what your upbringing is.”
The Egyptian Room is open now in Oldham town centre.
Daisy Jackson -
10th August 2022 
