Greene King branded "disgusting" for "underhand tactics" after closing Manor House pub in Portsmouth early

The Manor House pub in Court Lane, Drayton, was set to close its doors on Sunday following the shock announcement by the UK pub chain, as reported.

But punters will not even have the chance to have a final drink goodbye after Greene King slammed shut the doors on Friday - with the pub boarded up and signs taken down – adding insult to injury for loyal punters.

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The pub has been the bedrock of Drayton for generations with locals angry the last watering hole in Drayton was being closed – which only underwent a six figure refurbishment before reopening in March 2020. A petition by Save the Manor House with around 1,750 signatures had called for the pub to be saved.

A post on the Manor House’s Facebook page announcing the early closure said: “We have made the difficult decision to close The Manor House with immediate effect. We appreciate that this is disappointing news to the local community and our loyal customers, and we would like to thank each of them who have enjoyed visiting us over the years.

“We are continuing to work with our team to find alternative roles at our other pubs in the local area where possible and any customers that have bookings with us will be contacted and offered a refund or alternative booking at one of our other pubs in the area.”

A Greene King spokesman told The News: “We can confirm that The Manor House has now closed. Making the decision to close a pub is never an easy one and multiple factors are always considered. We are aware that this will be disappointing news to the local community and our loyal customers, and would like to thank those who have enjoyed visiting us over the years. We look forward to welcoming them into our other pubs in the area soon.

“We continue to work with our team from The Manor House to find alternative roles at our other pubs in the local area where possible.”

Campaigner Kerri Anne, in response to the announcement, said: “You gave the date of the 26th and have purposely stopped the community from sharing a last drink together in the only remaining pub in Drayton. Thanking your 'loyal customers' would have been to allow them that final meet-up. Yet another disgusting move by Greene King.”

Brad Gudgeon, who also fought to keep the pub going, said: “Although we had a suspicion Greene King would play this underhand tactic - they have done the same to other sites - we were hopeful that it would stay open until Sunday when they said it would close so the patrons could have one last hurrah and to say goodbye to it properly and it's unfortunate staff. The battle to keep it as a public house will continue to go on though behind the scenes.”

Save the Manor House had only recently announced Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt had backed efforts to save the pub along with councillors in the area.

Punters on social media were shocked at Friday’s turn of events. One said: “This is the fourth pub in the last few weeks it’s happened too, if you email you’ll get the same generated response as everyone else...they are a disgraceful company who could not care less...only thing they are concerned about is (money).”

Another wrote: “Absolutely disgusting you close the Manor House two days early. Denying customers a last chance to say goodbye. You should be ashamed.”

A third added: “I guess they were worried about a last day protest, surprise decision to close early.”