By Chris Cornford
The landlord of The Fighting Cocks has defended his ‘drive through hog roast’ after an overwhelming response caused the main Arreton Road to be grid-locked on Saturday (6th March)
Sam Shaw was staggered by the amount of cars who descended on the pub within five minutes of opening. He said: “It was our first hog roast and it was set up in the same way as a McDonalds Drive-thru. We have a big car park and cars were directed off the road to queue for their meal in a Covid-secure set-up.
“We opened at noon and by 12.05pm the car park was already full. That was when the traffic started to build up on the main road.
“We were serving the customers as quickly as possible, but by 12.45pm it was clear the problem has escalated and the road was jammed.
“I decided to close the operation down for the safety of the public. Fortunately, there was a police car stuck in the traffic. I approached the officers and asked them for help and they were exemplary.
“They quickly got the traffic flowing again and, while it was disappointing for the people who were unable to have their hog roast, we had to take into account everyone’s safety.”
Like many pubs and restaurants, The Fighting Cocks has been operating a pre-ordered takeaway service at the weekend via the pub’s app and Sam says this is the only way he can keep on his staff. He added: “All I am trying to do is help my staff, and keep by business going, in the worst times we have ever had. If we don’t come up with new ideas we will not survive.
“We had absolutely no idea the hog roast would be that popular and that we were going to be overwhelmed.
“We won’t be doing the hog roast this weekend because the weather is against us, but we will be making an announcement about the following weekend in due course.”
Press Release