Jobsworth council orders pub landlord to paint over £15,000 renovation after just ONE resident complained - 'I feel betrayed!'

Part of this makeover included painting the windowsills and door frame of the pub in a "poppy red" colour, in a nod to his six-year-long army service.

He also arranged for an artist to paint a Stoke City Football Club mural on the wall of the beer garden and a Stoke City crest on one of the external walls.

However, Mr Elliot says Labour-run Stoke-on-Trent City Council has threatened enforcement action unless the pub is returned to a more muted palette, due to it being located within the Hartshill Conservation Area.

The pub operator says he must instead choose from a list of "British Standard References for paint", which includes cream, ivory, pale grey, soft white, and pink.

He told GB News: "It has cost me over £15,000 to do stuff to bring the pub back to life.

"I don't know if it is my army-head, but it just seems a lack of common sense - it sits next to a bed shop that has red fences and I'm next to a Tesco and Esso petrol station."

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Mr Elliot said the action from the council was sparked by a complaint from just one local resident.

"It just seems there are a few people locally that don't want a pub there, and for some reason, someone has taken offence to the red," he added.

"The one thing that got me was the green on the old signs where it says Jolly Potters - that green isn't in the conservation area list."

After leaving the army in 2013, Mr Elliot worked as a prison officer before deciding to get involved in the hospitality industry three years ago, becoming the leaseholder of another pub in Keele.

The 34-year-old said he feels "betrayed" by the action being taken against the Jolly Potters, adding that the council has shown "no interest" in him.

"It's sad to think of the number of places I have spoken to people and they say there is support for veterans - there isn't," he told the People's Channel.

"My Afghan medals are in a shoebox. It's not something when they grow up I'll be telling my kids.

"My thing is now I'm trying to build an empire, but the local council have no interest in us.

"What everyone does is we leave the area, we get on a train and we go to Liverpool or Birmingham - no wonder Stoke-on-Trent is like a ghost town, but then they are trying to kill us over a can of paint."

Mr Elliot has been forced to hire a decorator who will come on Monday morning and paint the pub's windowsills and door frame in creams and greys.

"It is going to look massively depressing," the army veteran commented.

"I have got some green banners that advertise ‘live sports here, serving drinks’ and I've even got to take those down.”

GB News has contacted Stoke-on-Trent City Council for comment.