A pub that was forced to axe its weekly ladies' night after a man complained has a new weekly event - and is crediting the customer who complained, for coming up with the new name.
The Star Inn in Lingfield, Surrey, had been running a 50% off food offer for all women on a Monday evening for 12 years.
However, the pub will cancel its long-running offer at the end of October, with owner Simon Skinner admitting it was a bit "iffy" after the 50% discount off food irked one male punter.
The pub said it had been hosting the nights as a way of "righting the balance" in a "world clearly weighted against women".
In a Facebook post on Tuesday the pub revealed the new name to replace its soon-to-be axed evening - as it introduces 25 per cent off the food bill for all genders every Monday night from 5pm.
The post on the pub's Facebook page read: "Congratulations to Ian Watson for coming up with the new name for Monday nights:
"Lingfield Association for Dining In an Equal ops Setting. Or LADIES night for short!
"Well done Ian, you have won dinner for two at the Star Inn, and well done to Nadine Rooke-Bates who also wins dinner for two with her: 'after the bloke who complained- eg 'Thank Doug Night'.... no idea what his name is so no offence to Dougs out there'."
The post has had more than 200 reactions and a handful of comments. One person asked: "Brilliant. Is it 50% off for everyone now?" and the pub replied: "25% off for everyone."
Talking to SurreyLive previously, Simon explained why he cancelled the evening after it had been running for 12 years. " I’ve had a decent run of it but I’ve always known it’s a little bit iffy," he said.
"I thought it’s not really worth fighting and something you have to roll with.
"We’ve often had people joking but we’ve never received any complaints.
"Until now everyone's been really happy with it.
“It has always been something I want to do for ladies, I do think women have the wrong end of it and it's just a nice thing to do.
If one person objected to what I was doing in any other circumstances then I would laugh, I’d love to stand up to him and say 'to hell with you'."
Earlier this month the pub owners told their Facebook followers it would "no longer be able to continue with this offer in its present form".
The Facebook post read: “We are fully booked every week, often weeks ahead, and it is used as a great catch-up by many women in the local area.
"We always knew that it was a bit iffy as we were in effect discriminating against men, but in a world that is clearly weighted against women, it was our small way of righting the balance.
“Sadly, following a complaint from a man who visited us on Monday night, we will no longer be able to continue with this offer in its present form, after the end of October.
"We would like to thank you all for your great support over the years and please do watch out for an announcement on how we can continue some kind of ladies' night in the future.”
The post received hundreds of comments with some confused why the pub had decided to change its policy on the basis of one complaint.
One commenter said “one man cannot change what you do” and added it may have been used as an excuse to end the offer.
But the pub was quick to dispel any speculation by responding to the comment.
“One man who has stated that he will be reporting us for a practice that is illegal!." the pub wrote.
"Trust me, if I wanted to cancel the night I would, and certainly do not need to fabricate an excuse; sometimes we can all read a bit too much between the lines!"
