DISGRUNTLED regulars at a Malvern pub are banding together to try and persuade its management to reinstate their New Year's Eve disco.

Drinkers in the Blue Bell Inn, on Guarlford Road, have welcomed the New Year in with a disco every year for the past decade.

But they were dismayed to findthis year's event had been cancelled. They believe it is to be replaced with an " la carte" evening, with a five-course meal, priced at around £40 per head.

Martin Macdonald, who regularly drops into the pub when he has finished his round as a postman, said the event symbolises the way locals are being edged out.

He said that some of the regulars, who number around 30, have been coming to the pub for up to 40 years, but feel they are being marginalised by the pub's owners, Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries.

"They can't say 'you're not wanted here', but that's the feeling we've all got," he said. "It's all for food and nothing for the people who use it year in, year out."

Mr Macdonald and fellow drinker Derek Allen are gathering names on a petition asking for the disco to be reinstated, which they are planning to send to the managing director of Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries.

He said that some people who will not even be at the pub for New Year's Eve have signed the petition to register their disapproval. Mr Macdonald estimates he will gather around 100 signatures.

Landlord David Day declined to comment.

However, a spokesperson for Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries said the only change from last year's schedule would be the fact there would not be a disco.

She said this was because the pub's license to stage such events had expired.