A LANDLORD has issued a rallying cry to pub owners, who he claims are the victim of foul play by TV broadcaster Sky.

Douglas Stoneley-Hulme, landlord of the Antelope pub on Manchester Road, Kearsley, says he and other licensees are being forced to pass on the crippling price of screening live football to punters.

Pubs are facing an increase of more than 40 per cent for the coming season if they want to show all live games.

The move has left some landlords warning of a rise of the price of a pint, while others say they may have to show Sky the red card.

Today the angry landlord asked fellow licensees to flood The Office of Fair Trading with complaints.

Mr Stoneley-Hulme, whose bill will rise from £4,418 to £6,298, is calling on landlords to help spark an investigation into the spiralling cost of showing games by writing to the government regulators.

He said: "Most are in the same position as me. There are a lot of people in two minds as to whether they should get rid of Sky, or just put the prices up. No-one wants to do either, but we haven't got much choice. If enough people write, then they will have to sit up and take notice. It won't take them long to see that this is unfair."

A spokesman for Sky said: "This season, we'll be offering pubs the chance to show more live sport than ever before. We have greatly enhanced the package and there will be a 33 per cent increase in the number of live games shown. We believe that has been fairly reflected in the revised price."

But Mr Stoneley-Hulme believes the extra games will fail to draw large crowds, and the 33 per cent increase in games represents bad value against the 40 per cent price rise.

"They've got a tight grip on us because they know we can't go anywhere else for football," he said.

Landlords can write to: John Vickers, Director General of Fair Trading, Office of Fair Trading, Fleetbank House, 2-6 Salisbury Square, London, EC4Y 8JX.