by John Harrington
The man who was picked to run a council scheme to help pubs has been suspended for suggesting that licensees are "inward-looking" and afraid of outsiders.
The Mine Host initiative will see pubs in the Wear Valley District Council region of County Durham given support, such as advice on business development, and possibly financial help for building extensions on their pubs.
A facilitator the "Mine Host" will hold meetings with licensees to discuss their plans and will co-ordinate the council's actions. The amount of council funding has not been revealed.
The move follows recent independent studies that showed there is potential to develop pubs in the region.
"In many rural settlements, pubs provide community services that are an integral part of rural life," said a council spokesman. "This project strives to ensure that these key community facilities remain sustainable."
The spokesman said five pubs had expressed an interest in taking part in the scheme.
The initiative is due to start next month, but Len Alderson, the first Mine Host, has been suspended from the council, pending internal inquiries, after being accused of insulting the region's licensees in a report that appeared in the Daily Express.
He told the newspaper: "In some places, there is still almost an animosity to any outsider coming in, which is a real problem to get over. Some people do not want tourists. They don't see outsiders as a source of revenue; they see them as a problem.
"We don't want to teach landlords how to suck eggs, but they need to know how to deal with people and not to see them as a threat.
"People have been quite inward-looking and are quite happy with what they have. So it's a matter of educating them."
But Trish Oxberry, licensee of the Bay Horse in Wolsingham, gave her backing to Alderson despite his comments. "I have found him very supportive," she told the Northern Echo.