A LANDLORD has hit back at claims he left a pub in a state of disrepair.

The Lancashire Telegraph reported on Monday that The Golden Cup in Darwen was closed for a clean-up after brewery chiefs from Thwaites said it ‘was left in a condition that was unfit for any other landlord to trade’.

However, the former landlord of the Blackburn Road pub, who had run it since June, has defended his exit from the place.

But Thwaites maintained that the pub was ‘abandoned’ and left in a poor state.

The landlord, who asked not to be named, said: “I feel ashamed over what Thwaites did to me.

“They said I have left it in a state of disrepair but I left people running the pub and I gave the staff the profits for running it.

“I can categorically say that the pub was cleaned and locked up when it was shut.

“The reason I closed and left was because I was not willing to take the risk for the returns we would be getting.

“I put in all the hours and even spent money trying to make it better as people wanted Sky and I was paying £890 per month for the subscription.

“The line manager told me that the prices would go up in November.

“It was OK during the summer with people coming in but with the winter months Thwaites were putting the prices up on the barrel.

“We are not able to compete with other pubs and I know that others were getting cheaper prices per barrel.

“I had invested money into the pub to make it look nice.

“I have nothing to lose now and it will remain closed.”

A spokesman for Thwaites, however, said the firm stood 100 per cent by the statement given to the Lancashire Telegraph on Friday.

The statement said: “The pub was abandoned with no notice given to us and sadly it was left in a condition that was unfit for any other landlord to trade, so we have had to close whilst it’s cleaned up.

“The pub will reopen and we are in conversations to make that happen as soon as we can. We love the Golden Cup and have every intention of maintaining it as an integral part of the local community. We can only apologise to anyone who has been inconvenienced while it has been closed but we assure you it has a good future ahead.”