A pub which lay empty for nearly three years after a customer used the F-word has finally reopened – with strict rules stopping people from swearing.

The Fox and Goose, a Samuel Smith pub in Droitwich, Worcestershire, was shut down due to the potty mouths of its clientele in October 2019.

Samuel Smith pubs, of which there are around 200 in the UK mostly in the North, are known for their strict rules introduced in 2019 to create a ‘traditional, uncompromisingly Victorian aesthetic’ and ensure ‘pubs are for social conversation person to person’.

Phones, tablets and laptops are banned and if you need to make or take a call, you must go outside.

Pubs will not play music, jukeboxes or have televisions, and there is a zero tolerance rule on swearing. Some branches don’t even allow card payments, though there is no country-wide ban.

So strict boss Humphrey Smith, 76, shut down the brand new pub – which had only been open for seven weeks – overnight after hearing the offensive language.

Now it has been allowed to reopen on the condition punters “keep it clean”.

New landlords Ana Hale-Askew and Alex Savage, who live above the pub, said anyone caught swearing will be asked to leave.

Alex, 68, said: ‘We are welcoming customers back, provided they curtail any foul language. If the pub gets closed we will lose our home as well.

‘I don’t want to be in that situation. I’ve got visions of running this place for a couple of years.

‘We’ve told everyone to come in, enjoy a drink and have a laugh but for heaven’s sake keep it clean.’

He said that reputation is now ‘in the past’ and is ‘no longer justified’.

‘It was the swearing that got us closed last time,’ he added. ‘We have had two complete trading weeks.

‘Everybody that we have met who has come into the pub has been absolutely brilliant.

‘We’re open for business. Please show your faces and give the beer a try.

‘To help us keep it open we need people to work with us and control their language.’

The pub is currently not offering any food and is accepting cash only.

His partner Ana Hale-Askew, 22, said: ‘We always have to keep our ear out for any bad language.

‘We give people a gentle warning if they swear and then if they do it again they’re asked to leave.

‘Thankfully it hasn’t happened very often since we’ve been here.

‘One thing about running a Samuel Smith pub is that you follow the rules whatever they may be and that means no potty mouths.

‘The customers are very glad the pub has re-opened and we’re looking forward to getting to know the locals.’

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