British Columbia liquor officials are investigating claims that Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was recently served rounds of shots, stiff drinks and beer after legal drinking hours at a Vancouver-area pub.

“The liquor inspector is currently in the process of determining whether there is merit to these allegations,” said Douglas Scott, associate deputy minister of the Liquor Control and Licensing Board.

The pub in question, the Foggy Dew in suburban Coquitlam, has been contacted, the ministry confirmed.

On Saturday, the Star reported that, according to a witness, Ford partied with three people at the Foggy Dew in the early hours of Saturday, Feb. 1. The mayor spent more than an hour in a staff washroom and emerged, scratching his chest and the back of his neck and making “weird twitch-like movements non-stop with his hands,” and speaking “gibberish,” according to a witness.

Over the next hour — after the 2. a.m. legal drinking hour cut-off — Ford and his three guests ordered rounds of beers, rum and Cokes, and shots of Jack Daniels. A photo taken shortly before 3 a.m. shows Ford at a table filled with drinks.

The Star was unable to independently verify allegations connected to Ford involving suspected drug use or consumption of alcohol at the Foggy Dew.

Ford’s office has not responded to requests for comment.

Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart said he was “entirely comfortable” with any steps that police and licensing officials decided to take, while noting that it was not his role to initiate or direct an investigation.

“I can’t imagine that a large establishment like this would put their licence on the line to give Mr. Ford one more drink,” he said.

Ford had started his night off at the popular pub. His visit was documented by revellers who took numerous photographs of the mayor on a packed dance floor.

He was then ticketed for jaywalking by an RCMP officer while crossing a street near his hotel around 10 p.m.

Ford told the Toronto Sun’s Joe Warmington in a telephone call soon after the jaywalking incident that he had only consumed a diet Coke. He claimed he was targeted and criticized the RCMP for wasting taxpayer dollars.

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The Star reported that Ford returned to the Foggy Dew around midnight, then disappeared into a staff washroom for more than an hour. When he emerged he was “talking gibberish in what sounded like another language,” according to an eyewitness to the scene.

The first words witnesses could understand were “no pictures,” according to a source who asked not to be named for fear of consequences.

The pub’s owner John Teti did not respond to a message left Monday.

RCMP spokesperson Sgt. Peter Thiessen said police are not “making a public comment or speaking about the Rob Ford incident.”

Ford had travelled to B.C. in late January to attend the funeral for the mother of friend David Price. Price had been his director of logistics and operations but was removed from his $130,000-a-year position after city council voted to reduce Ford’s office budget.

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