A fishing lake owner who put up a sign banning Polish and ‘Eastern Bloc’ anglers says it has been taken down after his family received threats.
Billy Evans of Field Farm Fisheries said he put up the sign because he had caught anglers stealing fish.
But he was met with a barrage of complaints and his family even received threats.
Mr Evans said he was now considering closing his fishery in Launton, Oxfordshire, to the public.
Billy Evans of Field Farm Fisheries said he put up the sign because he had caught anglers stealing fish
Polish fisherman Rado Papiewski, 35, raised more than £10,000 to launch a private prosecution to have the sign – which he called ‘disgusting’ – removed.
In a post on the website Crowd Justice he said: ‘I was shocked when I visited this fishery in April and was told by the owner that he won’t let me fish as I am from Poland, because all Polish end Eastern European anglers are here to steal from him.
‘I felt very strong about the fact that I am being treated in this way – only because I was born in Poland.’
Evans (pictured) said he was now considering closing his fishery in Launton, Oxfordshire, to the public
Polish fisherman Rado Papiewski (pictured) raised more than £10,000 to launch a private prosecution to have the sign – which he called ‘disgusting’ – removed
Mr Evans told BBC News: “The sign has been removed because of threats to my family.
Mr Papiewski, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, runs Building Bridges for the Angling Trust, a project which aims to integrate foreign anglers into the British fishing community.
Mr Papiewski called the sign’s removal a ‘big step in the right direction’, adding he was now seeking written confirmation that Mr Evans had changed his policy and that all anglers were now welcome on the site.
He said his legal team from Duncan Lewis Solicitors would ‘provide a further update early in the New Year’.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission deemed the sign was unlawful and warned it would take ‘enforcement action’ if necessary.
And he believes the sign was even in breach of the Equality Act 2010.
An EHRC spokeswoman said it had written to the fishery to advise it to take it down.
‘It’s right to challenge such out-of-date practices and any business that believes this is acceptable should think again before they find themselves facing legal action,’ she said.
An EHRC spokeswoman said it had written to the fishery to advise it to take it down