PUB BOYCOTT UNDER WAY

Regulars from the Lewes Arms started boycotting their local pub this week in protest at the removal by pub owner Greene King of Harvey's, the local beer, from the bar.

On Tuesday lunchtime, two regulars leafleted those entering the pub and asked them to boycott the pub until the New Year.

The protesters said that they had peacefully turned away almost everyone who headed for the pub, and that all passers-by had expressed support for their campaign. As a result, there remained only a handful of people inside.

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The Friends of Lewes Arms, as regulars call themselves, say that the disappearance of the Harvey's, which is brewed a few hundred yards down the road from the Lewes Arms and was voted Champion Best Bitter 2006 by real ale campaigners CAMRA, by pub owner Greene King is destroying the character of their favourite drinking hole.

They also say that the Lewes Arms is a well-known pub that forms an important part of the character of the town, and that it should be selling the local product.

The group further argues that, since Greene King is currently running an advertising campaign urging people to support local pubs, it should support Harvey's.

The Friends are asking people to boycott the pub over the festive season.

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Greene King, which a couple of weeks ago was in discussions with local MP Norman Baker over the possibility of Harvey's remaining in the pub's cellars, has stuck to its policy of selling only its own beers, even though Harvey's reportedly outsold Greene beers in the Lewes Arms by four to one.

Local campaigner John May said: "We are some of the people who care about our local and hope to hold Greene King to the high values that they claim to espouse. They can demonstrate this by leaving the Lewes Arms and its Harvey's alone."