Mayor tight-lipped over arrest
The mayor of Lichfield is remaining tight-lipped after being arrested on suspicion of assault following a city centre pub brawl which allegedly started over a woman. The mayor of Lichfield is remaining tight-lipped after being arrested on suspicion of assault following a city centre pub brawl which allegedly started over a woman. Police were called to The Kings Head in Bird Street, Lichfield, at 1.10am on Saturday and Councillor Michael Fryers, whose appearance has been likened to John Prescott, was taken to Tamworth police station. Eyewitnesses claimed the brawl involved two other men and one is thought to be an ex-partner of a woman Councillor Fryers had been talking to in the pub. The Conservative councillor's arrest has sparked calls for him to resign as mayor. But Councillor Fryers, speaking from his Lichfield home, refused to comment although he admitted the allegations could have damaging effects on his future. He said: "At the present moment, I am not going to make a comment. I am acting on advice." Read the full story in the Express & Star.
Police were called to The Kings Head in Bird Street, Lichfield, at 1.10am on Saturday and Councillor Michael Fryers, whose appearance has been likened to John Prescott, was taken to Tamworth police station.
Eyewitnesses claimed the brawl involved two other men and one is thought to be an ex-partner of a woman Councillor Fryers had been talking to in the pub.
The Conservative councillor's arrest has sparked calls for him to resign as mayor.
But Councillor Fryers, speaking from his Lichfield home, refused to comment although he admitted the allegations could have damaging effects on his future. He said: "At the present moment, I am not going to make a comment. I am acting on advice."
Councillor Fryers, who represents Chadsmead ward and is a member of both Lichfield City Council and Lichfield District Council, only took on the role of mayor in May this year and it is thought to be in his fifth year as a councillor.
He is thought to be separated from his wife and have two children. Councillor John Walker, an Independent city and district councillor, said: "An incident like this does nothing but leave the Conservative party with egg on its face. People who were in the pub told me all hell broke loose.
"As councillors, we have been having training on how we should behave and for the mayor to be in a situation where he ends up being arrested is not very good at all and he should resign."
Conservative Councillor Barry Diggle, who was the city's mayor in 2000, said: "I was amazed and shocked to hear about this."
Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant said: "In Lichfield, as in the rest of England, you are innocent until you are proven guilty.
"As I understand it, Mike has not even been charged by the police with any offence so any speculation regarding his future as mayor is, as far as I am concerned, completely inappropriate."
Staff at The Kings Head confirmed an incident had taken place but refused to comment further.
Sergeant James Hooper, of Staffordshire Police, said two men, aged 59 and 64, were arrested on suspicion of assaulting a 54-year-old local man who suffered minor injuries.
