Greene King under investigation after boy suffers “severe injury" when smashing head on metal bar at Portsmouth pub’s soft play

A 13-year-old boy was left needing 15 stitches as an ambulance was called to The Farmhouse in Burrfields Road on Tuesday around 2pm. The incident at the Hungry Horse pub, which is owned by Greene King, happened in the Wacky Warehouse.

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The boy’s mum, posting on social media, called for any witnesses to come forward after her son suffered a “very severe head injury”. She added: “He hit his (head) on a metal bar, 15 stitches, then they didn't even have a medical kit, just gave me a roll of blue roll.”

A spokesperson for Greene King said they have carried out an internal investigation and said they were satisfied there had been “no breach of health and safety”. The spokesperson said the boy was above the 4ft 9in height restriction and was older than the age 12 limit allowed to play in the area. However, it was accepted the child was with his younger sibling but it was “not clear if (the injured boy) was supervising or playing”. The representative said CCTV confirmed a medical kit had been provided despite this being disputed by the parent.

The Greene King spokesperson said: “Following a customer having an accident in our Wacky Warehouse, we provided immediate assistance including a medical kit and called an ambulance to attend. We’d like to reassure our customers that we have the highest health and safety standards, and that our play area is inspected by an expert contractor on a regular basis to ensure it meets the relevant safety requirements. The wellbeing of our customers is our number one priority and our thoughts and well wishes are with the customer.”

But despite Greene King’s insistence that health and safety standards were met, an investigation is now underway from Portsmouth City Council. A council spokesperson said: "Our regulatory services are aware of this incident. The matter will be investigated by an appropriate officer, in line with our standard operating procedures and enforcement policy." The News has contacted the health and safety executive over the incident.

People responding to the post spoke of their “disgust” and recounted other accidents at the pub - including another child who hit their head on a metal bar. One said: “(The metal bars) are supposed to be well padded and that shocking injury shows that cannot have been the case.”

Another wrote: “My son was playing in the Wacky Warehouse and he managed to get glass in his foot. Poor boy couldn’t walk properly for weeks, and even had a surgery planned.”

A third posted: “if it's not closed down parents won't use it until it's been sorted. So sorry this happened, how scary and traumatic.”

A fourth person said: “This isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Once a young child fell out of the ball pit over in the corner and face planted the floor and lost a tooth because of it. There was no padding on the floor and they seemed just as useless at helping the mum and the child then.”

A fifth wrote: “I cracked my head open here 18 years ago...seems nothing has changed, don't remember there being a first aider then either.”

Greene King has also come under fire in recent weeks after angering punters by suddenly closing the popular Manor House pub in Drayton. A campaign to save the pub is now underway.