Lobster protest boosts sales

Animal rights activists daubed graffiti on a Worcestershire pub and staged noisy demonstrations in protest at the pub's Lobster Festival.

But the extra publicity resulting from the protests at the Halfway House in Bastonford has boosted sales since the festival began in January.

Protesters, who argue that boiling lobsters alive is cruel, have been picketing the pubregularly since the start of the festival.

And on Wednesday last week, the words "scum", "free the lobsters" and "lobster liberation" were written on the pub's front wall in red and black paint.

Halfway House owner Steve Croft said the pub had sold more than 500 portions in the past month. "[The protests] have increased sales dramatically," he said. "All publicity is good publicity. People are incensed by the attitude of the protesters."

Croft said the Norwegians had undertaken tests that showed lobsters feel no pain and stressed the pub treats the animals humanely, adhering to Defra guidelines on how to cook them.

Croft hopes campaigners don't return next week ­ for the pub's clam and mussel festival.

Police have launched an investigation into the graffiti.