A U.K. tequila bar owner has filed an application to register his business as a church to avoid coronavirus lockdown rules.
In a Facebook post on Friday, James Aspell wrote (language warning) he is changing the name of his Nottingham bar, now called “400 Rabbits Tequila and Mezcal Cocktail Bar,” as “The Church of the 400 Rabbits.”
“With places of worship allowed to open in all tiers we thought fuck it lets start a religion!” he announced. “Can’t be that hard can it! ‘The Church of the 400 Rabbits’ launching as soon as we get the green light!”
“Congregation daily til late,” Aspell added. “More deets coming soon!”
“The intention of this is to be a joke, but it comes from a serious place, “Aspell, 34, told Nottinghamshire Live. “With the new restrictions we’re forced to close and it could be months before we can reopen. We don’t have a food offering, so even if we were in Tier 2, we couldn’t open.”
Aspell added that during the lockdown, his business has been “targeted unfairly to an extent and it seems wrong.”
“Everything from gyms to massage parlours can stay open and even the Christmas markets are happening – that was the point when I thought, this is ridiculous,” he continued. “So, we have sent in an application to register as a place of worship.”
Aspell, who has owned the bar for five years, said his application “points out the hypocrisy” of the coronavirus restrictions.
“If we were to open, we’d follow government guidelines and I don’t think we’d be selling alcohol,” he said. “We might be able to adapt in a different way and have some fun with it.”
“We’re not doing this to offend anybody or break any rules,” he added.