UKIP candidate told to pack up election stall from outside bank after 'land dispute'

Robert Leach set up the stall outside Metro Bank, in Epsom High Street, on Saturday morning, but was surprised when two of the bank’s staff members came out to tell him to move - especially because he has run the stall from that location without problems on three other occasions.

Mr Leach said he was told that the land outside the bank belonged to Metro Bank and staff members even brought out a Land Registry plan to prove this.

But the UKIP candidate disputes that it is private land and actually believes the plans show it is public highway.

He said he moved because he did not want to be "needlessly provocative" and set up his stall on the opposite side of the road, outside the Spreadeagle.

Mr Leach said that while he was there, Jehovah’s witnesses set up a stall outside the Metro Bank and were not asked to leave.

"We dispute the land belongs to Metro Bank. We believe it’s public highway," he said.

"They said they would call the police but we weren’t pretending to be associated with the bank.

"They asked us to move as they said they didn’t want to be associated with a political party."

Mr Leach said he will be closing his personal and business accounts with Metro Bank following the episode and he is still waiting for the bank to send him a cheque book for an account he opened last month.

He added: "They should learn how to run their business before telling us how to run ours."

A Metro Bank spokesman said: "The area in question outside our Epsom store is owned by Metro Bank and we would recommend that any further queries should be directed to the Land Registry."

An Epsom Council spokesman added: "That area is part of the lease of the Ashley Centre who invested in the repaving when Metro Bank, [its] site also part of the Ashley Centre, moved in."