Complaints prompt change to pub named after car

The pub had been named after the MG car that had been built in the town

A pub named in honour of a model of car is to be rebranded over complaints it was offensive.

The Midget in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, shared the moniker of the eponymous MG car that had been built at the company's former factory in the town.

But the term is more-commonly known as a derogatory and offensive way of referring to people with dwarfism.

More than 1,000 people signed a petition, leading to the pub's owners Greene King agreeing to change it to The Roaring Raindrop.

The new name will be in tribute to the last ever record-breaking car by MG to be manufactured in Abingdon.

The pub had originally been called The Magic Midget when it opened in 1974 after a former land speed world record car produced by MG, but dropped the word Magic in 2002.

The MG factory in Abingdon closed in 1980

Dr Erin Pritchard, who started the petition, said: "I have dwarfism and like the majority of people with dwarfism find the word offensive."

"I doubt anyone would tolerate a pub with a name containing an equally derogatory slur against another group of disabled people or an ethnic minority," she said.

Zoe Bowley, managing director of Greene King pubs, said the company had thought "long and hard" about changing the name.

"We hope that making the change in this way helps to preserve our pub’s historic links to Abingdon’s past while simultaneously ensuring our pub can be a place where everyone feels welcome," she added.

Greene King spoke to Dr Pritchard about her concerns ahead of a major refurbshment of the venue, as well as members from the MG Car Club - which is located just a few minutes away from the pub.

Dr Pritchard, who is a senior lecturer in Disability Studies at Liverpool Hope University, said it was "good to see" the brewery was "open to addressing concerns about disablist hate speech".

"It is a term that should be consigned to the history books,” she added.