Under-Age Eating?

[Tarser]

Can a 14 year old boy and a 16 year old girl go into a 'Weatherspoons' pub/restaurant on their own to have a meal (no alcohol). I've googled it many times and I'm amazed at how such a simple question doesn't have a clear answer.

My lad and his girlfriend want to go out for a meal (without adults spoiling their fun) but we don't know if they will be breaking the law. It's a licensed premises, so is this a pub or a restaurant? Surely eating is never a problem with the law....

[Jackdaw33]

I may be wrong here but I think people under 18 have to be accompanied by an adult when visiting licensed premises.

[ummmm]

People under 16 have to be accompanied by someone 18 or over.

[ivor4781]

why not ring your local wetherspoons and ask

[mushroom25]

i don't know the answer, but whatever it is, I wouldn't let any child of mine go to a wetherspoons on their own - at least, not any near where i live. they frequently show football matches on TV, and always seem to be populated by pot bellied shaven headed tattoed football shirt wearing types, who are always very loud and very drunk and I'm sure they're very nice chaps, but they're awfully intimidating.

[retrocop]

Slightly off track snippet I just read with regard to this post.
It is now the company policy of Wetherspoons not to serve parents, with children in the bar, any more than two alcoholic drinks.

[chelle7272]

You could go with them but sit at a different table to give them a bot of space?

[hc4361]

.,,, During these times, 16- and 17-year-olds are welcome to visit without adult supervision, for food and soft drinks only...

https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/contact/faqs/our-pubs

So the 14 year old must be with an over 18

[chelle7272]

retrocop that has been policy for many years, but our local one doesn't enforce it very well!

[Hopkirk]

I wish I had had a 16 year old girlfriend when I was 14.

[aelmpvw]

i wish i'd had a girlfriend when i was fourteen

[retrocop]

//chelle7272
retrocop that has been policy for many years, but our local one doesn't enforce it very well!//

Neither does my local Wetherspoons. That is why it was a surprise to me when I read it earlier.

[retrocop]

I wish I had a Wetherspoons when I was 14yrs :-)

[ummmm]

I bet no one would question them if they walked in, picked up a menu, and ordered two soft drinks.

[EDDIE51]

No they can't go on their own, as explained it is a licensed premises that means they can only enter the building with a person over 18 accompanying them. They could go to a non licensed restaurant like
McDonald's , Pizza Hut , Burger King, KFC and so on, anywhere that does not have a licence to sell alcohol.

[EDDIE51]

Ummmm you have to order at the bar, and no one under 18 is allowed at the bar.

[Buenchico]

There are two separate issues here:

Firstly, any pub is free to make their own rules (as long as they don't conflict with the law) about who they will, or won't admit. One pub I go into has a strict 'Over-18s only' rule. There are a small number of pubs that insist on 'Over-21s only'' and even a few that are 'Over-25s only'. Hc4361's link explains J D Wetherspoon's policy.

However pubs (and pub companies) can't change the law. The Licensing Act 2003 makes it an offence for a licensee (or anyone else who is empowered to request a child to leave, such as member of the bar staff) to permit a person under 16 years of age to be on licensed premises unless they're accompanied by a person over the age of 18:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/17/section/145

[Buenchico]

>>> and no one under 18 is allowed at the bar

That was how the Licensing Act 1964 was often interpreted but that Act has now been repealed. The current legislation (2003) contains no such provision.

[ummmm]

I knew that...

[EDDIE51]

Retrocop would the '2 drinks rule' mean each adult could order 2 bottles of wine? They sell wine by the bottle so does a bottle count as 'a drink'?

[ummmm]

It would be by the glass. 1 bottle of wine would equal X amount of glasses.