The Daily Telegraph - 20.08.2019

Pub landlord

faces dirty

protest in pile

of manure

By Bill Gardner

A LANDLORD has been left dumb-

founded by the arrival of a pile of ma-

nure outside his pub laden with signs

accusing him of cheating on his wife.

Simon Emberley, who runs the

Hawkley Inn, near Liss, Hants, insisted

the allegations were untrue and said he

was the victim of a smear campaign.

Police last night launched an investi-

gation into the “malicious communica-

tions” written on the five signs stuck

into the heap stating “the landlord is

f------- my wife”.

Mr Emberley said: “All I know is I

turned up for work at 7.30am and there

was a big pile of s--- in the road.

“I don’t know where it’s come from

or who has done it, but something like

this can turn somebody’s life upside

down. Whoever has done it is trying to

ruin our business. It is unfounded and

untrue.”

The 5ft-wide pile was quickly

cleaned up by workmen and washed

away with a hosepipe but not before it

caused traffic jams in the village as mo-

torists tried to navigate the obstacle.

Mr Emberley and his wife, Joanna,

appeared to make light of the incident

by placing a sign outside the pub yes-

terday afternoon reading: “Limited Of-

fer! Free local horse manure donated

by generous supplier.”

A spokeswoman for Hampshire Po-

lice said: “We can confirm we are in-

vestigating an allegation of malicious

communications following an incident

in which offensive signage was placed

outside a pub in Liss.

“It is believed they had been placed

there overnight between 10.30pm on

August 18 and the following morning.”

The Hawkley Inn has been recog-

nised by Trip Advisor, Trivago and the

AA for its food and service.

Woman arrested for dumping

rubbish in wrong colour bags

By Bill Gardner

A MOTHER was arrested and taken to a

police cell after being accused of put-

ting her rubbish out in the wrong col-

our bin bags.

Lyndsey Webb was detained by two

officers after “falling foul” of new recy-

cling rules in Ipswich, Suffolk.

A court heard that the 34-year-old

was caught dumping household waste

in black bags near her home after Ip-

swich Borough Council allegedly failed

to send her new orange-coloured ones.

After giving evidence via video link

from her cell, she was eventually given

a conditional discharge and ordered to

pay £50 compensation.

Last night Ms Webb said household-

ers were “totally in the dark” about

how to recycle properly and accused

the council of putting her family

through “a total nightmare”.

It comes after The Daily Telegraph

launched a Zero Waste campaign call-

ing on the Government, local councils

and private companies to do more to

boost the country’s recycling rates and

make the process simpler.

Earlier this year, The Telegraph re-

vealed that just a fifth of councils pro-

vides a complete recycling service,

leaving householders in a postcode lot-

tery of waste disposal, and confused as

to what they should put in their bins.

Suffolk magistrates court in Ipswich

heard that Ms Webb was among a small

number of residents in the town who

were allowed to put black bin bags con-

taining waste outside their homes if

they did not have space for wheelie

bins. But magistrates were told that the

system changed when residents were

issued with two types of bags – orange

and clear – to encourage recycling. Ms

Webb claimed that Ipswich Borough

Council gave her permission to put out

black bags after she was not issued

with orange and clear ones in time. But

prosecutors alleged that Ms Webb, of

St Helen’s Street, Ipswich, was caught

dumping the black bags late at night by

CCTV cameras on three occasions.

She was summonsed to Suffolk mag-

istrates court by the council to face

four offences of fly tipping household

waste. A warrant was issued after she

failed to attend court and she was ar-

rested and taken into police custody.

After the hearing Ms Webb told The

Telegraph: “All I did was get the colour

of my rubbish bags wrong and I’ve sud-

denly got two police officers at my door

arresting me in front of my kids. It’s ri-

diculous.”

A council spokesman said: “She was

dumping a large quantity of bags out-

side a shop in an alleyway... She was ar-

rested under warrant because of her

failure to attend court.”

Labour swings to

defence of primates

with pet ban plan

LABOUR would bring in a “total ban”

on the keeping and trading of pet pri-

mates, the party has announced.

Keeping animals including marmo-

sets, capuchins, squirrel monkeys and

lemurs as pets would be illegal under

Labour’s plans.

An estimated 5,000 primates are

kept as pets in the UK, the party said.

Such animals were often housed in

cages and “denied proper lighting and

nutrition, causing debilitating diseases

such as metabolic bone disease”.

They were also regularly “taken

away from their mothers at a young age

and kept in isolation, becoming de-

pressed and displaying behaviour such

as self-mutilation”, the party added.

The proposed move, already in force

in other European countries, forms

part of Labour’s animal welfare mani-

festo, due to be published later this

month.

Luke Pollard, the shadow environ-

ment minister, said: “It is astonishing

that it is still entirely legal to keep pri-

mates as pets, regardless of how endan-

gered or dangerous the animal is.

“Anyone can browse the internet

and buy a primate with little or no

checks and inspections.”

Take a hike, ramblers tell footpath cyclists

By Greg Wilford

FOR decades ramblers have had free
rein over the 140,000-mile network of
public footpaths winding across Eng-
land and Wales.
But now they are on a collision
course with cyclists who are demand-

ing the right to ride bikes on the same

routes through the countryside.

British Cycling, backed by Chris

Boardman MBE, the Olympic gold

medallist and keen mountain biker, is

spearheading efforts to reform rights of

way legislation that bans bicycles from

more than two thirds of the paths.

It said the myriad laws were “out-

dated and confusing”, and only allowed

walkers to enjoy “outstanding” trails

through beauty spots such as the

Cotswold Hills.

Instead it has called for all paths to

be classed as “multi-use”, meaning cy-

clists could ride along them unless

there are good reasons not to.

The proposals, currently under re-

view by the Welsh government, have

been met with fierce opposition from

walkers. The Ramblers, an association

of 500 walking groups, says that each

pathway should be carefully reviewed

before its status is changed.

Gemma Cantelo, head of advocacy

and policy for the Ramblers, said:

“Some of our paths, because of their

character or physical features, are not

suitable as multi-use routes. That’s why

we don’t back proposals, as seen in

Wales, to move towards a presumption

that all paths should be multi-use.

“Instead, we support a case-by-case

approach to ‘upgrading’ footpaths to

make sure that they continue to be safe

and attractive to walkers, including

those who are less physically able.”

Unless the landowner allows it, cy-

cling on a footpath in England and

Wales is normally considered trespass,

making it a civil but not a criminal mat-

ter. Local bylaws or Traffic Regulation

Orders (TRO) covering particular foot-

paths can make it a criminal offence.

British Cycling’s campaign has won

support from Cycling UK, a group

championed by Jon Snow, the Channel

4 News presenter. Both organisations

stress that they want to bring in rules of

responsibility to ensure cyclists would

use public footpaths safely.

It would be based on the Scottish

Land Reform Act, which gave cyclists

access to almost all public footpaths

north of the border in 2003.

Duncan Dollimore, head of cam-

paigns at Cycling UK, said: “We want to

see England develop a better, more

modern system for determining access

rights – one based on suitability of use

rather than historic use. Scotland has

it, and Wales is developing one – it’s

about time England caught up.”

News of the plans renewed tensions

between ramblers and cyclists, who

became embroiled in angry exchanges

on social media.

Bob Murray, a walker, tweeted: “Far

too many cyclists ignore the principle

that walkers have the right of way and

belt past them at dangerous speeds.”

Emma Morris, a cyclist, wrote: “Walk-

ers are tarring cyclists with the same

brush. Some of us don’t speed past

walkers, and are polite and respectful.”

Walkers fiercely oppose

demand by bike riders that

country path network be

reclassified as ‘multi-use’

Court in the rain Pedestrians run in a heavy downpour

outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London yesterday.

Forecasters say the weather will improve at the weekend.

FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA/EPA-EFE/REX

News

Good as gold Colin Morris, from Nevin of Edinburgh Painters, applies gold leaf to the stag’s head on the roof apex during renovation work on the main

facade of the 17th century Canongate Kirk in Edinburgh, which is the official church for the Palace of Holyroodhouse and Edinburgh Castle.

JANE BARLOW/PA

‘All I did was get the colour

of my rubbish bags wrong

and I’ve suddenly got two

police officers at my door’

6 ***^ Tuesday 20 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph

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