New bars on Leeds’ Otley Run route pledge to ban pub crawlers

Two new bars on Leeds’ famous Otley Run route have been allowed to open after bosses pledged they would not serve people taking part in the pub crawl.

Leeds City Council granted a licence for cocktail and fine dining venue The Reserve, as well as for bar and coffee shop Hyde, last month.

Fears were raised that more drinks venues would add to nuisance behaviour linked to the crawl, which draws thousands of people to Headingley and Hyde Park at weekends and is often done in fancy dress.

But the applicants pledged to bar any punters in costumes as part of their conditions for opening.

The Otley Run, which features around 18 pubs stretching from Headingley to the city centre, has been considered a rite of passage for students for several decades.

But in recent years the crawl has attracted a wider range of drinkers and has come under fire for problems with public urination, anti-social behaviour and sexual harassment.

The Reserve, located near the start of the run at 96 Otley Road, faced objections from eight nearby householders and Labour councillor for the Weetwood ward, Izaak Wilson.

The applicant, Michael O’Donoughue, said he had 12 years’ experience in the industry, including at the Savoy in London, and he and his wife had run a mobile cocktail business since 2013.

A licensing report said: “They had long held the ambition to own their own premises, and a small premises had become available in an area they know and like in Headingley.

“There would be no admittance of those participating in the Otley Run or in fancy dress.”

Hyde’s application drew 12 objection letters, with concerns also raised by ward councillors and Alex Sobel MP, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Kieran Madden, director of Hyde Bar Ltd, told councillors he had 20 years’ experience in the hospitality industry.

A report from the licensing hearing, which took place on 19 August, said: “He wished to open a coffee shop/bar as he lives in the area, so knows it well, and he was of the view that the area was missing this type of venue.

“He would put up a poster to advise participants of the Otley Run or those in fancy dress they would not be allowed in the premises.”

In May, Wetherspoons dropped its plans to allow Otley Runners at its Headingley pub.

The Golden Beam had promised to bar those on the pub crawl when it opened in 2021.