Fife licensing board has lifted a ban on drinking outside a pub close to the Pars home ground on match days.
The Elizabethan lies in Halbeath Road not far from East End Park.
Currently being refurbished and revamped to the tune of £250,000, it wanted a condition which saw the closure of the outdoors drinking area three hours before Dunfermline Athletic’s home matches kick off removed.
And despite police objections, fearing this area of the pub would act as a flashpoint between opposing fans, the board agreed, with conditions attached.
They include monitoring, regular meetings between management and police, the use of plastic glasses on match days, extra CCTV and outside furniture being secured.
Board chairman Bob Young said: “I was quite happy to give it a shot, and if there is a problem with any of the big games, like Hibs, Falkirk or Raith Rovers, the police are quite entitled to call for a review.”
An agent for the Spirit Pub Company said that when the pub reopened next month following the refit it aimed to be transformed from a “vertical drinking” bar into a family friendly food-orientated venue.
With the focus on food, it would have 147 covers and would increase its kitchen staff from one to six – four of them full time chefs. In all staff numbers would rise to 24.
“They are not looking to attract the football crown in the way the premises have in the past, and that is the reason we are asking for the condition to be removed,” the agent said.
He argued the police objection may have been made on the history of the premises, rather than the new model which is being introduced.
However, board member Lawrence Brown was concerned, despite commending the work and money being spent on transforming the bar.
“It is the main road, and all it needs is for one person shouting something or speaking out of turn,” he said.
Police feared it could be a flashpoint, with fans using the bar’s newly installed decking area in close proximity to those making their way to the ground.
And board member Tom Adams added: “While I really like what they are trying to do to the bar, I still have some concerns.”
In the end Mr Brown’s motion to turn down the scheme was defeated by four votes to two.
