A SOUTH Essex pub where police seized so called "Golliwog" dolls has shut down following the incident and backlash.

Bosses at Admiral Taverns, the company which owns building of The White Hart Inn in Grays, has confimed the landlords have stepped down from the business.

Landlady Benice Ryley, 61, was spoke to by the six officers after police received an anonymous complaint about The White Hart Inn in Grays.

She and husband Chris, 64, who is currently abroad, have displayed their collection of 15 dolls after receiving them as gifts from customers over the years.

On April 4 the officers from Essex Police entered the pub and confiscated the dolls, which are based on 18th century minstrels and now regarded as racist caricatures, saying they were investigating a "hate crime".

A spokesperson for Admiral Taverns, said: "The licensees have made us aware of their decision to leave the pub. We will be looking to reopen the pub under the management of new licensees in due course."

According to the BBC, breweries Heineken and Carlsberg tod the business to stop serving its lager.

Maintenance company Innserve refused to continue working on site, according to the BBC.

Later last month, bosses at Campaign for Real Ale said its "clear" guidelines were "seemingly ignored." 

The organiation also said The White Hart Inn in Grays would not be considered for awards or the group's famous "good beer guide" until the golliwog dolls are removed.

At the time of the police visit, Mrs Ryley explained: “Apparently a visitor to the pub had been quite upset about them and made a complaint. Chris is away abroad and will be until the middle of May.

“Police said as he is the licensee they need to interview him and they have taken the dolls away in the interim.”

The couple have run the White Hart Inn for the past 17 years.

The raid comes after the couple refused to remove the dolls after Thurrock Council received a complaint in 2018.

Mrs Ryley added: “I don’t understand why we have to go through all this again.

“We have the police taking away information that is literally the history of this country. And why?

“We are quite happy to call them dolls, not golliwogs, but even the officer who wrote down the inventory as he was taking them away described the larger one as a golliwog and the others as golly dolls.

“So even the police don’t know what to call them.”

Mrs Ryley added that people offended by the dolls “don’t have to come into the pub”.

She continued: “It took six officers to come and remove a shelf full of dollies. What a waste of taxpayers’ money.

“When the police officers came, I pointed to the dolls and said ‘They haven’t done anything.’”

Mrs Ryley is demanding the dolls are immediately returned and has vowed to put them back behind the bar.

She fumed: “It is unreal - we haven’t broken the law and there is no legal stuff that says I can’t display them. It’s just silly.”

 

CAMRA took to Twitter to say: "CAMRA believes pubs should be welcoming and inclusive places and it's baffling that any pub would choose to discriminate against customers or potential customers by continuing to display offensive material.

"We have had clear national guidelines in place since 2018 that no pub should be considered for an award if it displays offensive or discriminatory material on the premises, or on social media associated with the pub.

"CAMRA has more than 200 branches, all of which make independent decisions about making numerous awards to pubs and breweries throughout the year.

"We are currently discussing why this guidance was seemingly ignored by our south west Essex branch and instructing them not to consider the White Hart for future awards, or inclusion in our Good Beer Guide, while these discriminatory dolls continue to be on display."

Heineken UK and Mr and Mrs  Ryley were contacted for comment.