An Andover resident has criticised a “draconian” pub after being forced to sit indoors despite the tables being empty.

The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, was part of a walking group of OAPs, including one in a “very vulnerable” group, who attempted to visit The Royal Oak in Charlton for lunch, but was told they couldn’t sit outside unless they could use the app.

“I appreciate that it’s a popular pub and a good pub,” he said, “but in this instance it seemed to be actively deterring people from sitting outside at a time when the government are encouraging people to sit outdoors.

“There appears to be no recognition of or the flexibility in meeting the needs of older people.”

A spokesperson for The Royal Oak said that table service was unavailable at the time due to staffing levels, and that they had since apologised.

The incident occurred at around 12:30pm on Thursday, June 10, when the group of six walkers visited the pub. They hadn’t booked ahead, but found the tables outside were unoccupied, so sat down there until a waitress came over.

“At this point, we were told that unless we used the ordering app we would have to sit inside where there would be table service. Despite our protests we, reluctantly, did go inside only to find that all of the unavailable tables were occupied by people of a similar age to us.”

He said that this was a change from a previous visit in April, when the group had attempted to use the app but “experienced great difficulty” in doing so.

“Fortunately, a young waitress noticed our predicament and used her initiative to take our orders using an old-fashioned pencil and pad,” he said. “I bless this young lady for recognising that not everybody has the ability or desire to use an app.”

He had also been present at the pub on the day of its reopening and managed to sit outside, saying: “It was freezing but we sat there and had a meal. I’m trying to be loyal to the pub but in this instance it went the wrong way.”

He said that he hadn’t had the same treatment at other pubs, saying: “I’ve got the right to choose what method I use to order and it made it feel like my fault that I couldn’t use the app.”

He added that he was concerned this could affect other pubs, saying: “What worries me is how many people this has affected, and if it is happening across the country.

“I’m not angry but I’m just sad this sort of thing is happening.”

A spokesperson for The Royal Oak said: “While ordering at the bar is currently not permitted under government regulations, our team are working hard to make sure we can offer as much table service as possible to our customers, with our order and pay app also playing an important role.

“It was a busy day when our customer visited, and we advised that if he chose to sit outside, we unfortunately could not offer table service due to staffing levels, however on this occasion we did oblige.

“Everyone is welcome at the pub and we have since had a meeting with our customer to apologise and clarify the situation to make sure this does not happen again.”