A pub landlord in Birkenhead, Merseyside, has been forced to stop hosting community garden parties after a neighbour allegedly posed as a solicitor and sent a fake legal threat to intimidate him into ending the events. Darren Robinson, who runs The Wirral Hundred, said he had held just three well-received summer parties before finding a handwritten, error-strewn note claiming to represent local residents and warning the pub risked losing its licence or being banned from playing live music. Wirral Council later confirmed no such petition existed, but the parties were shut down regardless once it emerged the pub lacked the correct licence for outdoor music, something Robinson had mistakenly believed he held.

The unsigned note, left at the pub on 25 August, accused the venue of breaching its licence through "nuisance noise" from amplified music, live bands and noisy patrons, and urged Robinson to show "some respect for the locals". He said residents overwhelmingly supported the parties and denied any wrongdoing, with Facebook commenters mocking the letter's poor spelling and branding its author a "Karen". Despite the apparent hoax being debunked, Robinson had to cancel his planned 29 August event and has not hosted another since, owing to the separate licensing shortfall.