{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreia3we2jjjgcaenasqtg2kaispfmdp2p2b3rbvhp4mdko4gbk63jsa",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:oznbnvgr7dmvddiyvr7dih52/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfirn4bgfr62"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreiesbyyravipyugquuvbmg2zlmtm7fd25bmbsx5l5fk37cniuie6t4"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 117409
  },
  "path": "/news/kent-news-pub-landlord-barred-lifts-charity-mean-spirited-council",
  "publishedAt": "2026-02-23T03:53:44.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "Council forks out £60k for more learning courses for asylum seekers to tackle bulging waiting list",
    "Council's plot to block 24/7 bingo hall quashed despite fears of 'out-and-out gambling centre'",
    "Locals fight against 200km net zero project as petition signed by 12,000 sparks emergency meeting",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nA Kent pub landlord has been banned from driving customers home in his black cab after council officials ruled the charity service required a private hire licence.\n\nPaul Hartfield, owner of the Flying Horse in Smarden, had given around 100 patrons lifts home in exchange for donations since November, raising at least £700 in voluntary donations for the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHe chose the charity after one of his regulars was diagnosed with the condition.\n\nAshford Borough Council stepped in on Friday after a local newspaper reported on the initiative.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nTRENDING\n\nStories\n\nVideos\n\nYour Say\n\nAlthough Mr Hartfield made no personal profit, licensing officers said the vehicle counted as a “private hire vehicle” and warned that “commercial benefit” could still arise, even without direct payment.\n\nThe pub owner told The Telegraph: “It's mean-spirited that we are doing this for charity and I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do, to be honest.\"\n\nHe added: “With the Government increasing business rates and rising costs, it just feels like it's all going against us pubs at the moment.”\n\nUnder the scheme, customers booking a table at the 18th-century pub were asked whether they needed a lift home and invited to donate to the MND Association.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nMr Hartfield said the arrangement was “like a friend giving another friend a lift home.”\n\nRegular Paul Upton, 55, lambasted the council’s decision as “utterly ridiculous\".\n\n“It is just bizarre, it's complete nonsense,” he fumed.\n\n“This is a guy who has put himself out, he's bought the car with his own money, he's bought the petrol and he pays for his own insurance.”\n\n### COUNCIL ROWS - READ THE LATEST:\n\n\n\n\n  * Council forks out £60k for more learning courses for asylum seekers to tackle bulging waiting list\n  * Council's plot to block 24/7 bingo hall quashed despite fears of 'out-and-out gambling centre'\n  * Locals fight against 200km net zero project as petition signed by 12,000 sparks emergency meeting\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nHe dismissed the authority's intervention as “pure jobsworth nonsense\".\n\nMr Hartfield, a former black cab garage owner, bought the vehicle after taking over the pub from his daughter Natasha, hoping to strengthen its community focus.\n\nThe cab had previously participated in the village's Christmas Tractor Run, adorned with festive lights, helping raise nearly £7,000 for motor neurone disease research.\n\nThe row comes as the hospitality sector faces mounting pressure.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n###\n\n\n\n\nUKHospitality has warned pubs could see business rates rise by 15 per cent in 2026.\n\nThe figure amounts to an extra £7,000 a year for British boozers' bills by 2028/29.\n\nCampaign for Real Ale figures show 212 pubs have announced closures since January - an average of four per day.\n\nGB News has approached Ashford Borough Council for comment.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards:The GB News Editorial Charter**\n",
  "title": "Pub landlord barred from offering lifts home for charity donations after ‘mean-spirited’ council steps in"
}