A court in Harrogate has issued an arrest warrant for the former landlord of the Coach and Horses pub.
John Nelson, who held the pub's licence for 33 years until last summer, was due for a hearing at the Harrogate Justice Centre today.
Police arrested Mr Nelson on October 30, the day after the council gave his daughter the licence, on Leeds Road and tested him for drugs.
The test found that he had 30 micrograms of cocaine per litre of blood in his system. Officers also found three bottles of methadone in his car.
As a result, officers charged him with drug driving and with possession of a class A drug.
Read more:
Mr Nelson, 65, was due to enter a plea at court today but failed to show. So the court has now put out a warrant for his arrest.
If he does not hand himself in at a police station then officers will attempt to find and arrest him.
He lost his licence after North Yorkshire Police found customers drinking outside the Coach and Horses and not observing social distancing over the weekend of May 30.
Customers of the pub launched a petition to grant the licence to his daughter Samantha Nelson, which the council did in October last year.
She said she would refurbish and reopen but there has been no movement at the pub ever since. The Stray Ferret has made several enquiries but has received no reply.
0