TV star James May has been spotted enjoying a cosy pint of beer at his local pub and ignoring the Government’s official advice on social distancing.
Former Top Gear presenter May, 57, stood outside chatting with a group of drinkers last night before riding away on his push-bike.
His decision to join others outside the Cross Keys in Hammersmith, west London, came a day after he posted a video on Instagram urging people to stay at home ‘because that’s what we all have to do now’.
The Government has asked people not to go out unless for essential reasons or to exercise and to stay two meters apart. Police officers have been drafted in to break up any unnecessary gatherings.
Today, May insisted he hadn’t done anything wrong and was only helping drink up beer that would have gone to waste.
TV star James May has been spotted drinking at a pub and ignoring the Government’s official advice on social distancing
Former Top Gear presenter May, 57, sipped a beer and chatted as he rubbed shoulders with a group of drinkers last night before riding away on his push-bike. Today, he admitted he was in the wrong and told MailOnline: ‘I fancied a pint’
Last Friday Boris Johnson ruled that all pubs must close to help halt the virus, but the pub had an advertising board outside which said it was open ‘between 6pm and 9pm’. The sign had been removed this morning.
The drinking session, which happened just after 7pm last night, was reported to police by a passer-by who was enraged by the scene.
He told MailOnline: ‘I was out jogging and as I went past the pub I saw that the lights were on and there were people standing outside drinking with pints.
‘Then I saw James May and I couldn’t believe it. You could hear him from the other side of the road because he’s got a very distinctive voice.
‘I was really shocked and disgusted. A high profile person like him should be setting an example and not show such disregard for all the advice we are being given.
‘The whole country is pulling together to get through this crisis but May clearly believes that he’s better than us all. He should be sacked and made an example of.’
Speaking to MailOnline, May said he had been on a six-mile cycle ride to get some exercise when he spotted the lights on in his local.
‘There’s no point in wasting good beer and the landlord just wanted to get rid of it,’ he said.
‘We were not inside the pub drinking, nobody was, I was just standing on the road outside having a pint.’
He was at the Cross Keys pub in Chiswick, London, which was open to the public and went against government orders that all pubs close down during the coronavirus pandemic to help halt the spread of the killer disease
A passer-by told MailOnline: ‘ I saw James May and I couldn’t believe it. You could hear him from the other side of the road because he’s got a very distinctive voice. ‘I was really shocked and disgusted’
May initially admitted that he paid for his pint but when MailOnline pointed out to him that this would signify that the pub was open as it was selling alcohol he claimed: ‘I know I told you that I paid for my pint, but I didn’t.
‘What I meant was that I gave the landlord some money for beer that I had drunk in the past; I was clearing my tab.’
The man who saw May said he contacted the police, who yesterday launched a crackdown on social gatherings.
‘I dialed the police non-emergency number and spoke to a woman who said if she could find a patrol car in the area she would send it the pub. She gave me a police record reference number.’
Earlier this week May posted a video on his Instagram account to his 700,000 followers about isolation titled ‘Working at Home with James May’ which had almost 250,000 views.
On it he said he had been asked to ‘dispense’ a short video about staying at home adding ‘which is something unfortunately we all have to do now.’
Earlier May had posted a video on his Instagram account to his 700,000 followers about isolation titled ‘Working at Home with James May’ which had almost 250,000 views
On his Instagram he said he had been asked to ‘dispense’ a short video about staying at home adding ‘which is something unfortunately we all have to do now.’ Pictured with Clarkson and Hammond
May denied that he was a hypocrite for urging the public in social media posts to maintain social distance and stay indoors as much as they can.
He said: ‘At all times outside the pub we maintained a two-metre distance. There’s nothing hypocritical about what I’ve done. I’m asking people to obey the rules, and this is what I’ve been doing.
‘I’m actually in the middle of making a video at the moment about the importance of social distancing.’
May co-presented Top Gear for the BBC alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond from 2003 until 2015.