Northampton landlady speaks out after 'heartbreaking' empty pub Facebook post goes viral

A Northampton pub landlady has spoken out after a Facebook post she shared showing her empty pub went viral.

Miranda Clare posted pictures of her empty Live and Let Live pub, in Harpole, on the boozer's Facebook page on Thursday (June 24).

Alongside the pictures, she wrote: "Not exactly sure what more I can be doing. This just can’t continue. And at this rate neither can I."

Speaking to the Chronicle and Echo, Miranda said: "I looked around at 8.30pm on Thursday and I had nothing in. It was heartbreaking. This is the reality. This is the industry's reality and what we are up against right now.

"The post was a bit of a nudge to Harpole residents to come and use it. I see the same faces every week. If you don't want to lose your pub then you have to support it."

The post has since been shared 1.2k times on Facebook, viewed 162,000 times, had 2.5k likes on Twitter and amassed 500 comments, which led to Miranda being interviewed on BBC Global news.

Reacting to the attention her post received, Miranda said: "I can't quite get my head around it. I'm uplifted by the support. All the comments have been saying 'we have got to go there' and 'it looks great'. I've had new reviews from this weekend saying it's a great pub.

"It's heart warming, definitely, we're now fully booked for some upcoming events, which is great, but it's a reminder to all villages to go and use your pubs, if you don't you'll lose them. Pubs can't survive on two days a week. My pub isn't expensive and it's open to everyone."

The pub wrote on its Facebook page: "We are completely overwhelmed by people's kindness. Thank you to everyone who messaged us offering advice and booking tables for dinner. We are now fully booked for the next two days."

Speaking to the Chronicle and Echo last week about the government's Freedom Day U-turn, Miranda said she believes the country's Covid rules are the reason why pubs are struggling.

She said: "Why do we keep being told to get this, do that and you can have that? Everybody is doing what they should be doing and yet we can't seem to move forward.

"My 10 regulars can't sit together in the pub, so what do they do? They don't come out. They don't want to shout across the pub to each other.

"Other people have started going round each other's homes because they don't want the hassle of booking a table here there and everywhere.

"People aren't scared anymore. They've had their vaccines, they're not scared. Their habits have changed, it's the hassle behind coming out. We just want to be able to be spontaneous. We are social creatures. People are fed up."