A pint of bitterness How Russell Brand sparked an uprising against his plans for the village pub

On a crisp October day in rural Oxfordshire, Ο sunlight streams through the autumn leaves along a winding country lane.

- Alexandra Topping

A stubby Jeep rumbles past, laden with freshly shot pheasant, and a red kite circles overhead.

It is a quintessentially English scene, but rake the surface and the embers of a fierce row spark into life. On one side, local people determined not to lose an 800-yearold pub; on the other, a magic amulet-toting, born-again Christian broadcasting alt-right views to the world from its environs.

It is safe to say that Russell Brand is not wildly popular in the tiny village of Pishill, where he has applied for planning permission to change the use of outbuildings of its former pub into studios to produce his broadcasts.

"He's a scoundrel, it's as simple as that," says one resident. "I can't stand the man".

That sentiment, in more or less polite formations, was echoed in Pishill this week, where residents are anxiously waiting to see if the South Oxfordshire district council will approve Brand's latest planning application today.