Bridport: Guest outstayed her welcome at pub (From Bridport and Lyme Regis News)

Bridport: Guest outstayed her welcome at pub

10:01am Thursday 26th November 2009

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A LANDLADY has slated a Christian community for checking a 68-year-old woman with a drink problem into her pub.

The woman then went on a six-day drinking binge.

Sally Aburrow of the Lord Nelson in Bridport said Pilsdon Manor had asked if the woman could stay for two days while they sorted out accommodation for her.

Mrs Aburrow was left at her wit’s end after the woman drank four bottles of whisky, smoked in the room, burnt the carpet, didn’t eat, soiled the bed, bin and chairs.

Mrs Aburrow said: “We found her passed out. We were lucky not to burn down.”

She repeatedly tried to get Pilsdon to take the woman back to no avail.

“I called the homeless number and was assured if I kept her for the weekend something would be sorted out first thing on Monday.

“I agreed. The woman ate nothing and stayed in her room. She had not washed or showered in all the time she was here and she was still smoking.

“I couldn’t let out any of my rooms. The smell was disgusting. I will have to redecorate the room, replace what was a new mattress and do something about the burns in the carpet.

Mrs Aburrow alerted the police who evicted her from the pub.

She said: “We paid for a taxi to take her to a half way house in Dorchester.”

Pc McGregor said the woman clearly ‘had a drink problem’ but he appreciated the facilities Pilsdon provides for wayfarers He said there had been a serious breakdown in communication that had caused a great deal of stress.

The Rev Rob Marshall, a spokesperson for Pilsdon, said the woman had never been a problem during her long stay and before she was booked into a bed and breakfast the community had carried out a risk assessment.

He said: “We can’t discuss individual circumstances that are of a private nature between the charity and individual service users.

“We have been in constant contact with the local authority and we have done everything possible to secure a good and loving long-term future for this former service user of ours.

“It did get to a point where we were not able to offer the level of support and pastoral care that this person actually needs and we will continue to monitor her progress in her new situation.

“Pilsdon has a long and outstanding track record for looking after people with special needs and will continue to do so.”

Mr Marshall admitted her own family had been unable to care for her in what was to be a two-day wait for council accommodation and in consultation with her family it was decided to book her into a bed and breakfast.

He said: “On the website it (the Lord Nelson) is a bed and breakfast. If she is going to drink she is going to drink and the fact that it is above or next door to a pub makes no odds. This was a very short-term measure.

“We did everything possible to make sure this transfer between us and her new permanent home went as swiftly as possible.

“The fact that she then changed it, in agreement with the landlady, saying she didn’t want to go to her new home. The landlady initially said yes until she deteriorated and started drinking more heavily and the landlady realised she’d made the wrong decision.

“On instruction we had to cancel the accommodation we had already got lined up for her and have spent a lot of time and effort getting it back – to her family’s relief.”

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