HAS AGGRESSIVE MEDIA CAMPAIGN DRIVEN WOULD-BE INVESTOR OUT OF TOWN?

Putting the boot in - today's headlines

THERE are fears that North East Lincolnshire may have missed out on precious regeneration ideas and funding after council chiefs were spooked by a media storm.

Property entrepreneur Alex May (52) held talks with council chiefs about his readiness to help revitalise Freeman Street and other parts of Grimsby.

He also expressed eagerness to back Grimsby Town FC's ongoing efforts to find a new site for the club.

This would most likely  have resulted in redevelopment of the club's longstanding Blundell Park ground with much-needed new homes.

But it subsequently emerged that Mr May, who is of Zambian nationality, had a blot on his record - a criminal conviction for which he served time behind bars.

He has now paid the penalty, and, in the best traditions of British fairness, should surely be  allowed - indeed encouraged - to rebuild his life.

But as soon as Press and radio got wind of the conviction, the publicity turned vicious.

Again and again, one newspaper has labelled Mr May a "conman" and "fraudster" with apparently no efforts to establish how he has sought to redeem himself since his conviction.

The same newspaper has also pointed the finger of scorn at council chiefs - including leader Cllr Philip Jackson and chief executive Rob Walsh  - just for holding preliminary, non-binding discussions with the entrepreneur and his representatives about investment in North East Lincolnshire.

Should not NELC bosses, by contrast, be applauded for inviting ideas that might breathe new life and vitality into rundown parts of the borough?

Such is the extent of the media's hostility that it seems unlikely now that anything more will be heard from Mr May and his team. Their time has been wasted. Their ideas and investment will go elsewhere.

Other prospective investors might now also have second thoughts if North East Lincolnshire should ever come on to their radar.

One thinks for example of another property magnate, Liverpool-based Ming Yeung, whose sights are set on redeveloping the former Pleasure Island theme park

So far, Grimsby's MP, Lia Nici, has restrained  from comment on the controversy. The extent, if any, to which she was involved in the early discussions is not known.

The Grimsby News says: This whole episode beggars belief. An  entrepreneur comes forward with a bright-eyed enthusiasm to regenerate North East Lincolnshire and what happens? He is promptly kicked in the teeth by the media - not just once but again and again. What is more, council leaders are also held out to dry just for agreeing to have preliminary discussions with him. The conduct of the media has been simultaneously appalling and ridiculous. If any proposals had come forward, they would have been subject to due diligence, not least rigorous planning regulations. Alas, there is another disturbing aspect to the media's behaviour. Mr May is not white British. He is of African descent. It is hard to escape the suspicion that the abuse with which the entrepreneur has been treated feeds into another narrative - namely a  nasty undercurrent of racism.