The Angel pub on Roehampton High Street has closed. Its owner, Punch Partnerships, has stripped the interior and filed an application to rebuild the bar, seating and entrance lobby. The pub has accepted the conditions set at two hearings the public never saw.
A handwritten sign taped to the ornate door glass says: “PUB CLOSED / Till further notice / We’re sorry for the inconvenience.” At the rear of the building, furniture, chairs, tables, mattresses, shelving units, a fridge and paint tins have been piled outside. A full commercial strip-out is under way.
Punch did not challenge the licensing committee’s decision. The conditions are now on the licence. The rebuilding has started.
But two things remain unresolved. The videos of both hearings (held on 16 April and 29 April 2026) have not been made publicly available. And one of the conditions those hearings imposed refers to a deadline that only the people in the room know about.
What the hearings decided, and didn’t disclose
The conditions added by the licensing authority after the two hearings are now on the public record via the RSP Hub, the regional licensing portal. Four new conditions were imposed. Three cover noise and external drinking. The fourth, condition 25, requires the toilet ventilation system to be “replaced or repaired to the satisfaction of the Head of Environmental Services within one calendar month of the second appointed date.”
The phrase “second appointed date” is defined nowhere in the public record. It refers to a compliance timeline set at the hearing. Because both hearings were held without public access or webcasting, the appointed dates, and therefore the compliance deadline, are not publicly known.
Wandsworth Council’s Monitoring Officer confirmed in writing that the decision not to webcast was taken because of “the risk given the profile of this application that comments may be made that could affect political support.”
As of 1 June 2026, no video or audio of either hearing have been made publicly available.
What Punch has filed
On 27 May 2026, Punch filed a minor variation application (number 303314) with the Wandsworth Licensing Authority to alter the layout of the premises. The application covers a reconfigured bar and fixed seating, and a new main entrance lobby. The site notice, posted at the pub, states that operating hours and all existing conditions remain unchanged.
The application is currently awaiting processing. Readers who wish to make representations can write to licensing@merton.gov.uk, or to Wandsworth Licensing Authority at Merton Civic Centre, London, Morden, SM4 5DX, by 10 June 2026. Representations must relate to the licensing objectives.
The series
The Angel has been at the centre of Roehampton’s most significant licensing dispute in years. We first reported the story in February 2026, when the Metropolitan Police applied to revoke the licence following a raid in which 29-30 officers, a helicopter and a battering ram were deployed and two arrests were made, neither linked to the running of the pub. Sally Cox, who ran The Angel for 12 years, left voluntarily to try to save the licence. Punch filed the paperwork replacing her as the designated premises supervisor the same day it filed the police review application.
Both hearings were held without public access or webcasting. The council’s explanation for this changed three times before the Monitoring Officer’s written confirmation about political support.
Putney.news filed a freedom of information request (WBC-FOI-13384) on 17 April 2026, seeking the council’s webcasting policy and the written record of the decision not to webcast. Wandsworth Council’s response, received on 7 May 2026, confirmed that it holds no written webcasting policy and no record of the decision not to webcast the 16 April hearing. The council was unable to identify who made the decision, on what legal basis it was made, or any correspondence, briefing notes or legal advice supporting it. Putney.news is pursuing the matter further.
