By Widespread illness strikes GTFC town fans at Barrow match
A large amount of travelling GTFC fans found themselves under the weather after eating at a chain restaurant prior to the fixture against Barrow-in-Furness.
Last Tuesday’s fixture against Barrow-In-Furness resulted in a 1-0 loss. To add to the sting fans found themselves suffering sickness after reportedly having meals the areas local Wetherspoons branch The Furness Railway.
Reports then emerged that the store had been forced to close.
Wetherspoons Spokesman Eddie Gershon blamed the closure on ‘an outbreak of sickness among staff.’
He said: “There has been an outbreak of sickness among some staff at the pub. As a result we took it upon ourselves to close and are undergoing a professional deep clean. “At the moment there is no day or time when it will reopen. The pub has an excellent track record, is popular and well-maintained. Unfortunately some staff have reported sick and we will not reopen until we have enough staff to run the pub and completed the clean.”
Speaking to Gi Grimsby News, Grimsby Town supporter Brad Milne said: “I put a couple of message on social media (Facebook, the fishy) etc. Got absolutely inundated with responses. It got to a situation that was significantly bigger than I had any idea or felt comfortable dealing with one my own (over 40 town fans across such a wide cross section of ages etc.) and felt it was appropriate to pass on details to the mariners trust, as the “official voice” of the fans if you will.”
He continued: “Had reports of some really serious illnesses (sickness and diarrhoea) which had a number of town fans bed-bound and missing work. Which isn’t acceptable in such concerning times. We have been recently informed that it’s suspected Norovirus and the pub/hotel has been temporarily closed for deep cleaning.”
A spokesman for the venue said 90 other diners were served on the day in question and “no-one else came back with any illness except them.” Cumbria County Council also said there was no wider issue with norovirus or other sickness bugs in the town.
Despite these claims the pub has been visited by health chiefs from Barrow Council after a customer said their whole table became sick after dining there.
Grimsby fans were quick to collate data on their experiences, with at least thirty customers revealing that they had fallen sick after visiting the establishment.
Mr Milne added: “The fact that we as a group know of others suffering brings the issue to light, if individuals had it they might not make the link.
Another customer added: “Add 2 more to the list, my daughter had pizza and was poorly starting late yesterday (Weds) I’ve had a trip to the loo this afternoon and been sick but I’m feeling better very quickly.
“When we got there it was busy so ended up sitting at an uncleared table (normal spoons), the glasses were cleared before we are but it wasn’t cleaned.”
The pub has now reopened.
Comments have been requested from both Barrow Council and The Furness Railway.
(Image:GoogleMaps)
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