Pubs must lose 'fire risk' hops

Hops on beams are a feature of many traditional Kent pubs

Pubs in Kent have been told to take down decorative dried hops - because they are a fire risk.

Under new licensing regulations pubs must undergo a fire safety inspection before being granted a licence.

The Woolpack in Warehorne, near Ashford, has been ordered to remove hop bines which had been draped around its 16th century wooden beams for years.

Landlord Hugh Oxborrow was told to take down the hops or replace them with plastic ones.

Manager Jo Bloxham said: "The local customers are extremely disappointed.

Alcohol is flammable, I can see them banning that as well, which would be strange in a pub Pub landlord Chris MacLean

"The hops have been here for years and years, it's a Kentish tradition with pubs as far as I'm concerned, so the real locals were really disappointed about it."

Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: "Any dried foliage unless specifically treated with a fire retardant material poses a fire risk.

"Where licensees are unable to demonstrate that dried foliage has been treated then our advice is to remove it."

Woolpack landlord Mr Oxborrow said: "You can't treat them once they're hung.

The Woolpack's beams are now bare of 'fire risk' hops

"You can treat hops apparently when they're fresh, you dip them in which case they stink to high heaven and they go brown within a few weeks, so that's not much good."

Pub licences are granted by individual councils which have different rules, so pubs in some parts of Kent have not been told to take down their hops.

Chris MacLean, landlord of the Plough and Harrow in Bridge, near Canterbury wants to keep his hops up.

He said: "They're grown round here, it's the heart of the hop country, they've been grown for hundreds of years and Kent is the place for hops.

"I hope we don't need to take them down, it seems ridiculous and I can't imagine plastic ones in here.

"Alcohol is flammable, I can see them banning that as well, which would be strange in a pub."