Featherspoons! Wetherspoon’s flagship £2.4million bar is temporarily closed after ‘rogue’ pigeon flew inside just before lunchtime and refused to come down from the cavernous roof space
- Staff valiantly tried to usher bird out of the building up until closing time of 12am
- But the pigeon took safety on the roof and wasn’t tempted by bread offerings
- Pub was meant to welcome public today but opening delayed until tomorrow
Wetherspoon’s flagship £2.4million pub at New Street Station has been temporarily closed – after a ‘rogue’ pigeon flew into the bar just before lunchtime yesterday.
Staff made valiant attempts to usher the bird out right up until the normal closing time of midnight.
But the pigeon clearly thought it was welcome at a ‘Featherspoon’ pub and took to the cavernous roof space.
From there it could take a bird’s-eye view of the bar’s unique carpet, designed to reflect the industrial genius of steam engineer James Watt.
The flagship £2.4million Wetherspoons at New Street Station has been temporarily closed after a pigeon flew into the bar. Pictured: The newly built London and North Western
The new JD Wetherspoon was supposed to be welcoming the public today but the opening has been delayed until tomorrow
Wetherspoon staff cleared the pub at lunchtime but despite having another 12 hours to catch the bird, the pigeon remained elusive.
Although it was tempted down with bits of bread, every time attempts were made to trap it the bird flew back up into the industrial rafters of the open-plan ceiling area that is one of the design features.
Named after the Victorian company, which ran services between London and Birmingham, the pub has two main entrances.
There are double doors on the patio side overlooking Hill Street but the entrance at the top of the ‘Spanish steps’ down from New Street Station to Station Street is single door only.
A Wetherspoon spokesperson told the Mail Online that an uninvited pigeon had entered the building.
They said: ‘Our staff know this part of town very well and none of us have hardly ever seen a pigeon in this area before compared with other areas such as ‘Pigeon Park’ next to Birmingham Cathedral.
The pigeon, who flew in just after lunchtime, decided to get comfortable on the cavernous roof space
‘It must have been a “rogue” pigeon which had somehow got lost. This kind of situation is very unusual and we have done everything we could at first to try to persuade the bird to leave.
‘The high ceiling has not helped trying to catch it. We haven’t been ordered to close the pub but we took that decision immediately because the health of our customers is paramount.
‘A specialist company is going to come to make sure the bird is removed and we will make sure there is a thorough clean of the premises. We anticipate to be fully open again for breakfast on Friday, December 2.’
However the notices were still in place on Thursday, December 1, saying the pub would reopen on Friday, December 2.
It said: ‘Due to an unforeseen circumstance we are closed but we will be open as usual tomorrow morning. Sorry for the inconvenience.’
The note then pointed customers in the direction of the next nearest Wetherspoon pubs – The Dragon Inn, Hurst Street; The Briar Rose, Bennetts Hill and The Square Peg, Corporation Street.
Source: Read Full Article
