A DEVASTATED landlord has been reduced to tears and feels “totally blindsided” after a council stripped his pub of its alcohol licence amid a police probe into drug dealing.

The Royal Mortar pub, in Military Road, Colchester, will not be able to serve alcohol until the outcome of a full hearing before Colchester Council’s licensing committee in January.

The authority suspended the pub’s licence after an emergency meeting was called over a police investigation into drug activity.

Four men and two women were arrested on suspicion of being concerned in drugs supply after a series of raids yesterday morning.

As a result of the investigation, police submitted a licensing review application for the Royal Mortar pub.

But Paul Bugg, 58, and wife Tanya, 54, who have run the pub for 15 years, said they received “no warning” of the move.

Mr Bugg said the pub had taken a tough line on any illicit behaviour, with staff barring anyone found to be using drugs.

“As a landlord, this happens to every pub – it is a pandemic that’s worse than Covid,” he said.

“But we have never stood by, never watched any drug activity in this pub without doing something about it. But we do not have eyes in the back of our heads.

“We are embarrassed, ashamed, in shock and utterly devastated.”

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He added: “My wife and I have been sobbing because of how sudden this is.

“We had a letter handed through the door, I was getting my booster jab at the time and my wife phoned me up and said ‘We’ve got this letter from the police’.

“The council attached a letter to it saying they were having some sort of meeting about it.”

Mr Bugg said the pub had successfully barred trouble-makers after a busy summer, compounded by the lifting of restrictions and staff shortages.

“Our job is not to arrest them,” he said.

“We are a little family-run pub, myself and my wife have never had a criminal conviction in our lives.

“I take disabled people home at night, I take keys off people if they’ve drunk too much, I book taxis for people.

“We take every step we can, we may have made mistakes but we are always willing to work with the police.

“We just feel totally blindsided.”

Mr Bugg said as a consequence of the ban, the couple may lose their life savings.

“We still have to pay our bills, our mortgage, my staff,” he said.

“Our life savings will be gone and it feels like it’s all been for nothing.”