Wetherspoon's Tim Martin attacks Greene King over Stirling pub judicial review

Wetherspoon chairman and founder Tim Martin has launched an attack on fellow pub giant Greene King for its decision to seek a judicial review against a planned Wetherspoon pub in Stirling, Scotland.

The judicial review, set for later this year, relates to a disused retail shop in the town centre, which Wetherspoon said it wanted to develop into a pub.

Greene King is challenging the pub licence, recently granted by the Stirling Licensing Board.

Martin said: "I do not feel it is right for competitors to try and prevent Wetherspoon from opening a new pub.

"It is a throwback to the 1980s when the major brewers tried to stop Wetherspoon and other companies opening up close to their pubs.

"It seems to me that Greene King are frightened of competition and are seeking to preserve a local monopoly in Stirling.

"The strange thing is that Wetherspoon is Greene King's biggest customer and we have traded with them for more than 30 years, so we are more than a little surprised by their actions."

Wetherspoon said it aimed to invest more than £1.5m on the planned pub in Spittal Street and create 50 full and part-time jobs.

Greene King declined to comment.