Covid: Groombridge village pubs split by 'perplexing' tiers

The landlords of two pubs in a village that sits on a county border say it makes no sense that only one of them can open under coronavirus measures coming into force next week.

Groombridge has two pubs, but the Crown Inn is in Kent's tier three and the Junction is in East Sussex tier two.

Steve Harmes, at the Crown, said it was "horrendous" and the Junction's Tiffany Pearson-Gills called it "perplexing".

The BBC has approached the Department of Health for comment.

The pubs are 0.4 miles apart, and there is a seven-minute walk between them.

However, under next week's rules, residents on either side of Groombridge, home to about 1,600 people, should not cross over the county border at a bridge over the river - meaning Kent villagers cannot go to the East Sussex pub.

Mr Harmes said not being able to open was "very frustrating".

"We were not in such a bad position before, but now, being put in this position, it's really hard for us to move forward."

He said even if the tiers were reviewed in December, the pub would not be able to prepare and take advantage of the busy Christmas period.

Asked if he could make up for the loss, he said: "It's not going to happen."

Ms Pearson-Gills took over the Junction in September and spent several weeks renovating it but had to put off an opening on 5 November.

She said the pub had been fortunate, adding: "It's great for us, but it doesn't make sense that the Crown up the road cannot [open]. It's just so close, it's a really, really difficult one."

She said: "It's quite perplexing for everyone, for such a small village as well...it just doesn't make any sense at all."

Villagers said it was impossible to draw the lines and they had always had two councils at a parish, district and county level, two MPs, two fire brigades - two of everything.

Some said it was unfair, but others said people had to "get on with it".

On Twitter, one user posted "the really stupid thing is that a county line goes through the middle of a village", while Robert Rees tweeted it was "a nonsense".

By Phil Harrison, BBC Kent

In a village with about 800 years of history, old Groombridge, in Kent, has villagey houses around the green, while new Groombridge, in East Sussex, has mainly Victorian houses built when the railway arrived 150 years ago.

Standing here, betwixt the borders, on the River Grom, a bridge crosses the river, separating Kent from Sussex.

Come next week, in Sussex, I'll be able to go for a substantial meal at the Junction while the big Premier League football team here, Brighton and Hove Albion, will have its next match at home at the Amex on 7 December and 2,000 fans will be allowed into the ground.

Over in Kent, the Crown Inn will remain shut unless it opens for takeaways, and Gillingham, the biggest team in Kent, will have its next match on 5 December against Swindon Town, but there will be no fans in the Priestfield stadium.

So on Tuesday, it will really feel like a frontier town, and the River Grom will be that barrier.