Appropriately Named ‘Last Drop Inn’ Fined £44,000 After Man Falls Through Cellar Door

You’d think having a giant, gaping trap door behind your bar might be an obvious safety hazard for employees, customers, and cartoon-based coyotes. Not for a pub in York, apparently, which has been fined £44,000 after a man fell through the cellar door earlier this year.

According to industry website the Drinks Business, the appropriately named…………Last Drop Inn (hehe), in Colliergate was fined this week for an incident in which a delivery driver accidentally fell into its cellar.

The website reports that access to the pub's cellar was located under a trap door behind the bar. The trap door took over most of the space behind the bar, which seems like a terrible place to put a comically dangerous abyss full of beer kegs.

At the time of the incident, the lights in the pub were switched off. The driver stepped back into the corridor to allow staff to reach the light switch. He subsequently fell through the open cellar door, sustaining serious knee injuries, as well as cuts and bruises to his left arm and ribcage. According to the City of York Council, the driver was unable to work for six weeks after the incident.

The accident probably could have been avoided with careful health and safety protocols, none of which the pub followed, according to an investigation by the City of York Council. The court heard that staff members would tell other members of staff if they were going to the cellar (foolproof), despite leaving the door open while they were down there.

“This was a serious breach of health and safety, which resulted in the driver sustaining life-changing injuries,” a spokesperson said in a statement on the City of York Council website. “It was a miracle that no one else was seriously hurt or injured before this incident took place. Thanks to the council’s public protection team’s vigilance, these issues have been identified and customers protected.”

Leave the trap doors to Looney Toons, guys!!!