A Ledbury councillor is boycotting a town centre pub because it doesn’t take cash payments.

Cllr Ewen Sinclair was once a regular in The Feathers Hotel in High Street, but says he won’t be visiting the historic coaching inn again.

“The Feathers don’t take cash and are unlikely to do so in the future,” he said.

“A cashless society is state control and I’m not facilitating that.

“I used to go in there regularly and the manager knows me well. He is a lovely bloke but this is a policy of the group.

“I won’t be going in there again.”

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Cllr Sinclair said the move towards a cashless society disproportionately affects the poorest in society.

“The government has done something good with energy tariffs,” he said. “People using Direct Debit shouldn’t be getting better rates than those on pre-paid meters.

“And I know that pre-payment meters cost the energy suppliers a lot more money to run.

“I don’t like to see us heading towards a cashless society.”

A staff member at the Feathers confirmed the pub does not take cash payments.

We did approach The Coaching Inn Group, which owns the Feathers, for comment. The group says on its website: “We accept most major credit cards. We do not accept cash payments.”

Despite taking a stand against the Feathers, Cllr Sinclair said he is pleased that Ledbury Town Council is trying to support town centre pubs by not having stalls selling alcohol at its coronation event.

The council is hosting a street event on Monday, May 8 to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III.

Cllr Sinclair said that, at a recent town council meeting, he suggested having a beer tent at the event. But when challenged as to whether that may take trade away from pubs, he said he quickly backed down.

“Logic will always win an argument with me,” he said.