War veteran banned from meals on wheels for food complaints

A retired soldier likened the irascible BBC sitcom character Victor Meldrew has been banned from his local pub's meals-on-wheels service for making too many complaints about the food.

Stan Lee, 94, a former grocery shop manager, who was a corporal in the Devonshire Regiment during the Second World War, has been told he can no longer receive his Sunday lunch at home. The widower paid £4.50 a week for the meal which was cooked and delivered by staff at the Racehorse Inn, in Tiverton, Devon.

He claimed some meat was "like old boots"; the gravy "tasted like trench water"; the peas were "like bullets"; the stuffing was "like cotton wool"; and the carrots were "limp and floppy". He said: "War rations were better than the food they were serving. I was in the army and the military grub had more taste. I have a right to complain if I am unhappy."



But Tony Dryhurst, the pub landlord, said he and wife Janet cooked meals for 400 people and Mr Lee was the only person to have complained about the privately run service. He said: "Janet works really hard to provide the service. She starts work before 8am every day.

"Why should we accept someone who keeps phoning to complain when she is doing her very best? We have tried and tried but he is a Victor Meldrew and there is no pleasing some people."

Mrs Dryhurst added: "Stan is in the local paper or on the local radio every week complaining about something. There are lots of other places he can get meals including the official meals on wheels service, so he is not going to starve."