Arcadia Ale House Headingley: Manager of Leeds bar explains why they are now allowing Otley Run groups in

Arcadia Ale House on Otley Road in Headingley has for years been a no-go area for the large crowds of fancy-dress sporting groups doing the famous bar crawl.

Other bars on the two-and-half-mile stretch from Far Headingley and into the city centre also opt to stop groups coming in on account of the heavy drinking, rowdiness and carnage that often follows them.

But in the last month an A-board has been placed outside of Arcadia on Saturdays welcoming Otley Runners in.

John Allen, who has been general manager of Arcadia for around six months, said that a number of factors went into making the decision.

"Saturdays are very quiet", he said. "We needed to start letting them in."

He added that since he has taken over the bar, which has been around for "over 20 years", he has tried to "change things up" and "make it more versatile".

Mr Allen said: "Before the place was just aiming at just one niche clientele but now we are aiming at bringing in more customers."

Asked if increased costs and a need to bring in more revenue had been a key driver of the decision, he said: "It's not the main reason as far as I'm concerned. Otley Runners are mainly student groups and they don't realise who we are and what we're about.

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"We've put the board out now to entice them in to see what we have to offer."

He said that he hadn't seen too much of a change in the month since they had started letting in Otley Runners, adding: "Most of them just go on by but if we've got sports on and we're busy then they look to check us out.

"We're quite early on in the run so by the time they get here they're quite hungry and will have a pizza and a pint to fuel themselves."

He added that "further down the line" he may look to add Arcadia to the official list of stops on the Otley Run.

"We're not the biggest venue in the world so we don't want to get overrun", he said. "I'm just happy doing it how we're doing it now."