Village shop pours famous cider down the drain over 'stolen' brand name

A village shop is pouring a famous cider down the drain - in a row over its 'stolen' name.

Shopkeeper Redmond Hanlon ordered his staff to tip three crates of Inch's Cider away when it arrived in a stock delivery.

The 74-year-old, who runs Londis-branded Bakery Stores in Winkleigh, Devon, refused to sell the promotional product to locals.

Inch's Cider was born in the village - created by postman Sam Inch.

His son, Derek, took over the business and already a multi-million-pound firm, it was acquired by Bulmers in 1996.

The site was later shut down and a large number of villagers lost their jobs.

After the cider factory was closed, David Bridgman - who worked for Sam Inch for decades - resurrected it.

He wanted to honour original founder Sam Inch but he was unable to use his surname because it was owned by Bulmers, and is now owned by Heineken.

Instead, he named the new tipple Sam's Cider.

Redmond said he asked shop assistants Tracy Way and Sophie Osbourne to bin Inch's Cider when it was sent to his store as a promotional product to flog.

"When we came to Winkleigh, Inch's Cider was still going strong.

"Then it got taken over, it was bought out by three guys who built up the business and put in some rubbish cider just for the purpose of selling it on.

"They sold it on to Bulmers in 1996 and they basically ran the factory down and closed it - and at the same time, they kept the Inch's brand name.

"When David Bridgeman decided he was going to resurrect the cider factory, he couldn't use the Inch's name because they had stolen it.

"So the last thing I want to do is sell Inch's Cider in the village shop in the middle of Winkleigh - if just doesn't seem right."

Explaining why he received a delivery of the cider, he said: "We get what they call an allocation from Londis once a month or thereabouts, and in exchange we get a retrospective discount on some of our purchases.

"It's worth it because we can usually sell everything that they send us, even if it's cost price and we save some money.

"But not this time. I'm not going to sell Inch's Cider, so I thought that'll be a bit of fun, we could just chuck it down the drain and say what we think of Inch's."

When asked if he'll face repercussions as a result of his actions, he said: "I don't see why, what's it got to do with [Londis]? They'll just say 'if you want to chuck it away, you're chucking £20 away'.

"Well that's up to us. I mean it could just have easily have got damaged in transit, a lot of cans do now - especially multipacks.

"Heineken might feel that it's not good, it's not good publicity for Inch's - but then again it's their fault in the first place."

Winkleigh Cider Company, who make Sam's Cider, said: "We viewed the video of the staff tipping the 'new' Inch's cider down the drain.

''Inch’s was the second biggest producer of cider in the UK in the mid-1990s.

"A lot of staff were employed from the local village and surrounding areas.

''Someone either knew somebody who worked at Inch’s or had worked at Inch’s during their life.

"It had a massive impact on Winkleigh when Bulmer’s closed the site in 1998. My father started up the Winkleigh Cider Company in January 1999.

"We have always been supported by the locals and have been throughout our company’s lifetime. This is something we have always been very grateful for."

Inch’s cider is a product of HP Bulmer Limited, owned by Heineken, which has been approached for a comment.