Just hours after opening its doors for the first time, Lidl’s inaugural pub became the scene of a violent altercation that sent one man to hospital. The Middle Ale bar in Dundonald, on the outskirts of Belfast, had only opened for business earlier on Thursday when police were called to reports of an assault at 11.20pm.
Two men were involved in an altercation outside the premises on the Dunlady Road area, according to the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Officers attended and one man was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries not believed to be serious. A video of the incident is circulating on social media.
“One man hospitalised after altercation outside Lidl's first pub in Dundonald hours after it opened”
Lidl said the trouble began inside when a group of customers were “politely asked to leave” after last orders. Security personnel assisted in the “prompt removal” of the group, the supermarket chain said, adding that the safety of employees and customers is of “utmost importance” and that it operates a “zero tolerance approach to disorderly behaviour.”
The PSNI said inquiries are ongoing and appealed for witnesses to come forward.
The Middle Ale is attached to an off-licence and adjacent to the existing Lidl store in Dundonald. Its name is a nod to the supermarket’s famous Middle Aisle of discounted items. The 60-seat pub represents an innovative workaround to Northern Ireland’s strict licensing laws. After failing to secure an off-licence because it could not prove an “inadequacy” of provision in the area, Lidl applied for a pub licence instead, arguing there were not enough bars. Following a protracted legal process and a court challenge, the chain succeeded – opening its first pub on Thursday, only for it to be marred by violence within hours.