ON a recent and extensive crawl in Greenwich, I was generally very impressed by the quality of the boozers in the town.

All, but one.

I remember drinking in the Rose of Denmark on Greenwich High Road before I became a professional spy, and being highly impressed by the quality of the atmosphere and the service.

So I expected good things on a return visit, but sadly, I think things have taken a turn for the worse.

The atmosphere inside the pub was one of ice-cold indifference. Various lone older men sat about with looks on their faces like the world was about to end.

Decor-wise, things are looking really knackered. But the real killer is the service.

My pal (a spying recruit who can only be identified as AV) asked me what I was drinking and I decided on a pint of Websters bitter.

The lovely barmaid snapped back: "No."

I wondered why not. Was it perhaps that she didn't want to serve us at all or just that there was no Websters?

I replied: "Is if off then?"

She snapped: "Yep," in the sort of tone that would suggest I was stupid to even ask in the first place.

I marked her a 0/10 for politeness and customer care, but a resounding 10/10 for succinct sarcasm.

I managed, with some difficulty, to order a pint of John Smiths and my pal and I repaired to the pool table for a few lazy frames.

Seeing as a couple of bar-hoggers were sat right next to the pool table, we were unable to place our pints on the bar without getting in their way, so we put our drinks on top of the sizeable radiator on the wall.

But a few minutes later, the utterly pleasant barmaid spied our beers, and screamed: "Oi! Take your glasses off there!"

We were dumbfounded, but also angry at this, especially because the tone of her verbal assault was similar to one employed by a mother chastising a misbehaving toddler.

Why did this barmaid feel she could be so downright rude to us? Why did she make us feel as if we were lucky to be served at all?

Except for a large, friendly Turkish man, just about everyone in this pub when we visited was gloomy-faced and thoroughly unwelcoming.

With more decent pubs within a square mile of this place than I can count on my hands, I thoroughly recommend you avoid The Rose of Denmark when visiting Greenwich.

Doubtless there will be regulars who disagree with me, but the service I encountered was quite honestly some of the worst I've ever come across in south east London.