A WHITEFIELD pub could have its licence reviewed after patrons allegedly brawled in the car park, attempted to run over a man and were seen taking drugs.

Complaints have been filed against the Goats Gate, at the junction of Dales Lane and Radcliffe New Road, following a string of incidents which are claimed to have taken place over the last three years.

The pub’s operators, the Joseph Holt brewery, have been accused of breaching three of the four licensing objectives - the prevention of crime and disorder, public safety and the prevention of public nuisance.

An application from an ‘interested party’ was submitted to Bury Council for a review of the premises licence on July 20.

In the most serious incident, alleged to have taken place at the pub on July 4, customers were reportedly seen taking drugs before a ‘large melee’ broke about between around 30 people who were squaring up to each other, swearing and fighting.

Glasses were claimed to have been thrown in a fracas resulting in shards landing in a nearby family’s driveway.

A customer was also reported to have ‘repeatedly and deliberately’ tried to run down another with their car in Dales Lane.

In the document the applicant complained that the Goats Gate had been a ‘regular source of nuisance and criminal behaviour’ since 2017. He added that he had collated a list of 28 incidents which allegedly breached the Licensing Act.

These complaints had been reported to the premises supervisor, the applicant said, before being escalated to the brewery’s operations manager and chief executive, and finally to Bury Council’s licensing department.

Last year the Goats Gate underwent a £500,000 revamp and began serving food for the first time in its over-100 year history. These changes also invoked anger from the complainant who claimed the refurb had ‘attracted even more of the undesirable element’.

He added that residents are ‘forced to be exposed seven days a week from 11am to pub customers in the car park smoking, swearing, spitting, using bad language and drinking’.

A spokesperson for Joseph Holt said: “As part of this licensing review, we intend to work very closely with Bury Council with a view to resolving this matter."

Anyone wishing to make a representation in relation to the application should submit them in writing or by email to the licensing authority before August 14.