Winchester MP, Steve Brine, paid a visit to the newly refurbished Exchange Pub today (Friday 28 July) and disposable vapes were among the subjects discussed.
The well-known city venue, which has undergone a £400,000 overhaul this year, invited the MP to meet new Manager – Olly Mattinson – at the Southgate Street location. Olly and his partner Liam recently moved to Winchester from Preston where they were running another pub.
As well as discussing new night-time parking charges in the city, and changes to taxi rank arrangements at the station, Steve heard about the problem of disposable vapes which are currently cleared up and thrown away at closing time each day.
Steve Brine said; “It was really good to meet Olly and his team and welcome them to Winchester. I think they’ll do really well here.
“The refurbishment at the Exchange is significant and it looks good. I was really interested to discuss the rising issue of disposable vapes and will be working to help this, and actually all venues in our area, with a workable option whereby they can recycle those cleared up at the end of every night.
“I was also keen to flag the issue of vape spiking which is not at all well known at present but is on the rise and something we need to nip in the bud. I’ll be working in Parliament, and through the Health Select Committee, to flag this potentially serious issue to Ministers.”
Olly added; "It was a pleasure to meet with Steve and discuss issues important to us and other local businesses. Liam and I are very happy to be back in Winchester, where I went to school many moons ago, and we look forward to working with Steve and others to make a positive impact on the local community".
The Exchange is a Craft Union Pub part of the Stonegate Group.
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The Exchange
Pictured; Steve Brine MP behind the bar at the Exchange with Olly (grey t-shirt) and Liam.
