Trollied Tuesday: Family Friendly Pubs.

Are generally a bad idea.

An increasing trend towards more “family friendly” pubs has not created the atmosphere of similar establishments on the Contintent. The “baby lager louts” who run wild and are left unchecked by parents have triggered a record number of complaints to compilers of The Good Pub Guide 2009.

Rising numbers of protests about children in bars have been registered from pubgoers who say that relaxing over a pint or a meal out is increasingly likely to be ruined by children’s unruly behaviour.

Quite. People who don't have kids themselves don't want to be around kids. Many parents will admit to finding other people's kids not quite so appealing as their own kids. Some parents, I believe, occasionally like a break from tantrum-throwing toddlers.

It's a similar argument to that used in favour of the smoking ban, that people who previously hadn't gone into pubs will now go into pubs. It ignores the fact that by doing so many more people who had been frequenting the pubs will go somewhere else.

Is it really so hard to train kids to stand outside with a packet of crisps and a can of vimto for a couple of hours?