AN abusive social media storm has heaped vitriol on a Haslemere coffee shop and a comedy booker with strong local connections for being anti-female comics but both have protested it could not be further from the truth.

Stuart Dear, owner of High Street venue Hemingways, and Geoff Whiting, who grew up in Hindhead and runs booking agency Mirth Control, have worked together for two years to stage successful comedy club nights at the coffee shop and wine bar.

Both were shellshocked by the scale of abuse heaped upon them after comedian Jenny Collier tweeted an email that went viral from Mirth Control last Friday, cancelling her appearance at a comedy club on May 15.

For full story, see this week's Haslemere Herald.