Teetotal trainee church minister banned from pubs in case of mistaken identity

A teetotal trainee church minister was banned from a town's pubs and leisure centre after being falsely accused of drunken disorder. Lee Davies, aged 36, received a letter from Biddulph Pubwatch banning him from 15 licensed premises after a man of the same name was blamed for causing trouble over Christmas. The ban even extended to Biddulph Valley Leisure Centre, because it has a bar.

But the married church member has not drunk alcohol for six years and had not been to a Biddulph pub over Christmas. It has emerged that he was sent the letter by a police officer, who checked the electoral register and contacted the only Lee Davies in the area. Now Mr Davies has overturned the ban and received a written apology after the group accepted he was a victim of mistaken identity.



Mr Davies, who works at Airbags International in Congleton, and is a member of Ball Green Assembly of God Church, said: "I got a letter, by recorded delivery, saying I had been banned from the pubs and the leisure centre because of my behaviour over the Christmas period. "I was distraught. I don't drink and hadn't been in any pubs over Christmas. I've been training to become a minister for more than four years so I was worried about what would happen if it got back to the church and my colleagues at work, and the effect it would have on my reputation."

Mr Davies, of Bellringer Close, Biddulph, finally cleared his name after attending a Pubwatch meeting at the Conservative Club, in Biddulph, this week. Pubwatch chairman Ann Facey, landlady of the town's Royal Oak, said Mr Davies was a victim of mistaken identity. She said: "This was a mistake and it does happen, which is why people can appeal.