“The Angling Trust regrets to announce that one of its members has had his membership terminated and been banned from fishing any Angling Trust matches for five years because of his aggressive, rude and potentially criminal harassment on the telephone of two members of staff in the competitions department over issues surrounding the arrangements for matches. He has been refunded in full, but will not be eligible to fish in forthcoming competitions. His tickets will be passed on to reserves. He has been warned that any further harassment will result in us taking the matter up with the Police.
Angling Trust staff are not employed to be the verbal or physical punch bags for angry members. They do their best to serve anglers and answer their queries, which they did fully and politely in this instance. Angling Trust matches only take place because of the hard work and dedication of a small team in the office and many trusted volunteers who give up their time to support angling. It is unacceptable to swear and shout at anyone on the telephone, and least of all the people who are dedicated to improving and expanding angling matches for the good of all involved.
We trust that our members will support the defence of our staff in trying circumstances. We will not be publishing the name of the angler concerned or issuing any further comment.”
