Landlords ‘devastated’ to leave pub in Derbyshire town – with rising bills making it ‘simply impossible’ to survive

Last month, the landlords of the Three Stags Heads – situated on the B5057 between Darley Dale and Darley Bridge – announced that they would be leaving the pub.

A post published on their Facebook page said: “So this has took a lot for me to write but it needs to be done – myself and Katie are leaving the Stags. It’s been a very rough ride – we took over seven weeks before we went into lockdown, we both went and got full time jobs and managed to keep the pub with no help from our landlord.”

The pair added that their electricity bills had risen from between £600-£800 a month to £4000-£5000 – an increase that made running the pub unsustainable.

“It’s just simply impossible for such a small pub. I’m absolutely devastated and feel like I’ve failed my dad as this was his pub and his baby, but unfortunately we physically can’t keep our heads above water anymore. I can’t thank all our regulars (friends) enough for the support they’ve always shown through these horrendous times.

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The landlords have not confirmed the exact date on which they will leave – and promised customers that they will ‘go out with a bang’.

“We will keep you updated with leaving day etc – we won’t be going without a bang. I hope you all can carry on to support us over the next couple of weeks before we leave. Just had to get this out here because I’m absolutely fed up of people that know absolutely nothing about our business spreading rumours. So there you have it. All our love Kat and Katie.”