A historic Old Town pub is facing permanent closure after confusion over city council permission for a beer terrace.
Daniel McNally, who has owned 110-year-old pub The Scotsman's Lounge for five years, had permission approved for an outdoor seating area on the pedestrianised road of Cockburn Street outside the bar on April 1.
Spending almost their entire Covid support business grant from the Scottish Government, Daniel paid for materials and contractors to erect a raised beer terrace on the road in order to double the pub's outdoor seating capacity.
Due to social distancing guidelines, the small pub can only welcome 11 customers at a time indoors from May 17 when lockdown eases again and Daniel has told Edinburgh Live that the £9,000 wooden beer garden was a 'lifeline' for the business in order to guarantee enough trade to stay afloat.
Daniel had also hired four new members of staff and installed new CCTV in order to ensure customer safety.
However, a shock visit from a council member this afternoon has dashed the publican's plans after being told that they "can't build that" and that the council were unaware of "how high" the structure was going to be.
The construction of the large wooden terrace would have required building permission as opposed to the permission the bar was granted for an outdoor seating space.
Now, Daniel says that he will have to pay off all 11 members of staff at the Scotsman's Lounge this evening as 'we simply can't recover from this.'
Speaking to Edinburgh Live , an emotional Daniel said: "It took two months for us to get this permission approved, just to be told that the council just thought we'd put tables out.
"We're a pub on a steep cobbled downhill street - how did they expect we were going to keep tables level?
"We've spent our entire business grant on this as a lifeline for the business - this is the end of us.
"The structure was going to allow us a total of 60 customers outdoors - a huge difference when you consider that we can only fit 11 people indoors when we reopen that from May 17.
"I've paid for new CCTV, taken on staff just to man the terrace, no one is allowed into the pub except to use the toilet.
"It's not a stage for a live band, it's a terrace that's been built to level out the street so that we can safely serve customers - but now there's concerns for public safety with it being there.
"Why are structures like this okay on streets like George Street but not here? All the materials have been cut to size, we're ready to go on Monday to start clearing our debt from this pandemic.
"Now we'll need to let our whole staff force go - the staff are what make the pub what it is."
This morning Edinburgh Live reported on the erection of the beer terrace - with many Edinburgh locals delighted to see the business trading in the first phase of lockdown easing.
A council spokesperson, said: “As we ease out of lockdown, we’re acutely aware of the need to be as flexible as possible with businesses across the city to allow them to recover, working with them to provide additional space for tables and chairs wherever possible.
“We’ve provided guidance which includes making it clear that any structures adjacent to businesses would need to be approved to make sure they are safe.
“We weren’t made aware of some aspects of this structure and it would need a building warrant to remain in place. We’re working urgently with the owner to help them find a solution going forward to make sure they can safely reopen as early as possible.”
