Martin Whelan, who runs the Tollington Arms in Holloway

A PUBLICAN says he will have to be dragged out of his bar “kicking and screaming” if he faces eviction.

A petition has gathered more than 8,000 signatures supporting Tollington Arms boss Martin Whelan after lawyers from the bar’s freeholders sent a letter threatening action.

Since the first lockdown in March last year, a debt of more than £130,000 has built up in unpaid rent which Mr Whelan, who lives above the pub with his partner Louise, says he has no means to pay off.

The couple have run the Hornsey Road pub in Holloway for 15 years where it has become a popular spot for Arsenal fans watching games or having a drink before and after matches at the nearby Emirates Stadium.

Mr Whelan told the Tribune: “No matter what the courts say, I am not leaving. I will squat in it. Mark my words, they will have to drag me out of this place kicking and screaming before I let them take my pub.”

Lawyers representing the landlords, KRNS Properties Limited, served Mr Whelan with a letter on April 1 threatening to take him to court if he does not come up with a plan to pay the rental arrears within 30 days.

The Tollington Arms

KRNS Properties Limited have put the Tollington, also known as the Tolly, up for sale with a £3.3million price tag.

Mr Whelan, who also ran The Gunners pub in Blackstock Road for 20 years, believes that the owners can make more money on the site if he is not there as a “sitting tenant”.

When Arsenal are playing and fans are allowed in the stadium, the pub can turnover up to £25,000 a night, but the pub has suffered from more than a year of coronavirus measures and no supporters at the stadium.

The government has banned evictions due to rental arrears, but this moratorium expires for commercial premises at the end of June.

Mr Whelan has sought a compromise with KRNS Properties Limited to have his lease extended by five years which he says would give him some headroom to pay off the debt.

The pub is popular with Arsenal fans

Mr Whelan added: “Before March 2020, we had not been late once for a rental payment. In the last year we have all been stuffed by the government and the lockdowns – but landlords are not sharing the pain. It’s on us small businessmen to take the brunt of the financial burden again. Without immediate intervention the government will soon find itself with a massive increase of business closures, unemployment and homelessness.”

His campaign to save the Tollington has been backed by thousands of Arsenal supporters as well as Islington’s finance chief Councillor Asima Shaikh.

She said: “We see the value that the Tollington Arms has in the community, both as a pub and to Arsenal fans. The pub itself is a community space and we want to protect these community assets.”

Solicitors for KRNS Properties Limited have said in a statement: “Whilst our client fully appreciates that we are in unprecedented times, they too have been extremely adversely affected by the pandemic (with a high proportion of its revenue coming from cinema sites, which of course, have been closed).”

It added the landlords were open to discussions, but added: “Over the past year, Mr Whelan has paid less than 10 per cent of the arrears that have accrued. Mr Whelan does also live at the property in question and ultimately what he has paid to our client is significantly less than what he would be paying if he was in comparable private residential accommodation in London.”