Bishopston prats were in an advanced state of excitement back in the autumn after plans for a Wetherspoons pub, used by normal people who don’t ride Bromptons, drink coffee hand ground by cheery exotic native virgins or spend three quid on an artisan sourdough loaf every day, were withdrawn by the business.

The pub group’s plans for a cheap and cheerful boozer on the old Co-op supermarket site on Gloucester Road  were slammed by the ridiculous Nigels and Jocastas of the area as a “blight”  that’s part of a “current trend to ‘alcoholise’ the Gloucester Road” and “disrupt the gentle character of the area”!

Now the plans have reemerged. So standby for another round of plummy-voiced whining from a bunch of over-privileged enviro-looney consumers in Bishopston. But treat any press claims that ‘Spoons is a sign of the imminent demise of our civilisation with caution.

It’s no secret that Wetherspoons sell a decent cup of endlessly refillable coffee for as little as 85p a cup. This is in stark contrast to the majority of the glorious planet-saving independent ‘ethical’ businesses on the rest of this three mile stretch of shops that starts at Stokes Croft.

‘Ethical’ businesses, owned by Merchant Venturers and Mayor Red Scrounger among others. Including an assortment of wealthy local business people, many with freshly-minted shares in the new enthusiastically pro-‘ethical’ business media outlet, Bristol 24/7.

These ‘ethical’ businesses will currently charge you around £2.50 for a cup of the black bitter stuff with some frothy milk.

So who really benefits from keeping Wetherspoons, a cheap, convenient family-friendly business, out? The local community or a load of profiteering local businessmen?