Community rallies around refurbished Portsmouth pub to replace smashed window

Two men passing The Golden Eagle, in Delamere Road, attempted to frighten patrons by banging on one the pub’s windows on Friday night – and wound up shattering the glass.

Vince Barnes, who lives in the pub and is the brother of landlord Phil Estell, took to crowdfunding website GoFundMe to drum up support in order to fix the damage.

He said: ‘I don't believe it was malicious intent.

‘They looked like two young kids, just mucking about.

‘But it still costs a lot to get a glazier in and make repairs.’

A total of 61 supporters have manged to raised the pub’s £1,000 target in less than a week.

It comes less than two weeks after the pub reopened to patrons following the easing of the national lockdown, which had provided an opportunity to refurbish the bar.

Vince said: ‘All the wood work been sanded down and we have had a new carpet fitted.

‘It's cost about £2,500.

‘I think we were quite lucky in lockdown. The brewery were really good – they didn’t charge us rent and we managed to get a government grant.

SEE ALSO: Southsea brew pub to reopen

‘The brewery said we were the only pub in the area that is in credit and that helped us a lot in terms of them being sympathetic with us.’

But the reopening has since mixed trade as people get used to dining and drinking out with coronavirus restrictions in place, according to Vince.

He said: ‘The first week was good - on the level with where we were before lockdown.

'Hopefully it will last.’

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