MP's pub noise row blunder

An MP "regrets" not talking to a licensee before asking residents to report any complaints about disturbances from his pub.

Margot James, new Tory MP for Stourbridge, Worcestershire, wrote to residents on 28 June saying she's received "a number of letters and emails" from people affected by "noise and anti-social behaviour" from the Cross pub.

She was "concerned" about the problem "worsening" as the World Cup approached.

The letter includes contact details for environmental health, licensing and police.

"I am writing now to urge you to report any problems you experience over the next few weeks," James wrote.

"Although it might not have an immediate effect, I am hopeful building up an evidence base will help bring a solution in the long term."

James told the Morning Advertiser: "With the benefit of hindsight, I think I should have contacted the landlord first. I regret not having done that."

James met Marston's lessee Wayne Etheridge on Friday and has now agreed to chair a residents' meeting so that concerns can be aired.

But she defended the letter.

"It's an MP's job to represent people and look after their interests. I think all I was doing was giving people information about how to report concerns. There's no way I was victimising the landlord."

Etheridge said: "Margot James jumped the gun.

"If she had contacted me and said 'we have had complaints', I would have said let's try and work them out. It was a bit naïve."

Etheridge was previously ordered by his local council to remove two marquees in a planning dispute.

And following a separate planning dispute, a judge ruled that his World Cup blow-up tents could only be used around the time of England games.

Etheridge said he had only received one letter of complaint in five years, but admitted that some residents had expressed concerns about noise and behaviour.