FOR THE last seven years Ian Collins has adorned the front of the Ring of Bells pub with a stunning display of hanging baskets and window boxes. The greenfingered 
publican has won numerous prizes, including Prettiest Village Pub on four occasions, and his efforts have attracted visitors from around the world. But now the 47-year-old has been forced to cancel his pub’s prize-winning flower display following a visit from the local council. Health and safety officials claim the hanging and wall-mounted baskets and pots were dangerous as some of the petunias and begonias spilled onto the pavement and walkers would have had to step into the road to avoid them. The officials also claimed Mr Collins’s baskets were hanging below the 8.2ft minimum height laid down by health and safety regulations and people could bang their heads on them. Disappointed Mr Collins, who has run the pub in the Somerset village of Norton Fitzwarren for 12 years, claimed it was a case of “nanny state” meddling. “I have done this for seven years and I have never heard any complaints and, in fact, it has been just the opposite.” But the county council defended its decision. Spokesman Jan Hookings said: “The safety of the public has to be our first priority.” Daily Mail 11/7/05.
publican has won numerous prizes, including Prettiest Village Pub on four occasions, and his efforts have attracted visitors from around the world. But now the 47-year-old has been forced to cancel his pub’s prize-winning flower display following a visit from the local council. Health and safety officials claim the hanging and wall-mounted baskets and pots were dangerous as some of the petunias and begonias spilled onto the pavement and walkers would have had to step into the road to avoid them. The officials also claimed Mr Collins’s baskets were hanging below the 8.2ft minimum height laid down by health and safety regulations and people could bang their heads on them. Disappointed Mr Collins, who has run the pub in the Somerset village of Norton Fitzwarren for 12 years, claimed it was a case of “nanny state” meddling. “I have done this for seven years and I have never heard any complaints and, in fact, it has been just the opposite.” But the county council defended its decision. Spokesman Jan Hookings said: “The safety of the public has to be our first priority.” Daily Mail 11/7/05.
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