By Isle of Wight Observer
Following a bitter dispute over biscuits, police were summoned to a Bembridge Parish council meeting on Wednesday, December 12.
Local residents held a charity collection of tins of biscuits while the Council Meeting was in progress, as a reaction to the way a parishioner, Mr Alexander Hopkinson-Wooley, had been treated by councillors after he attempted to give the staff in the office a tin of biscuits last week, as a Christmas gift. He had been ejected from the office, his biscuits returned to him, and he later received an officious letter from a council committee informing him that he had been banned from the office until April 1, 2019.
Wednesday’s meeting was a full Parish council meeting, which was open for the public to attend. In the event, however, the public were refused entry, and Cllr Stillman phoned for the police to attend the meeting.
A spokesperson for the Hampshire Constabulary stated with regard to the meeting:Â “We were called at 18:58 pm on Wednesday December 12Â to a group of people shouting outside a parish council meeting on Foreland Road, Bembridge.
“Police attended and six to eight people were gathered, but no public order offences were identified.
“This was a dispute between councillors and parishioners. The log was closed at 19:46 pm and no police action was required.”
Following the protest by parishioners, Bembridge resident Madeleine Reeder delivered a large haul of tins of festive biscuits to Trevor Blaney of the Pop Up Soup Kitchen charity.
