Fish and pees at a Stratford bar

A Stratford-on-Avon bar is encouraging its regulars to think they have been slipped a Micky Finn, by installing goldfish in glass cisterns over its toilets, writes Keith Nuthall.

Bar Humbug, a wine bar and restaurant, secured the services of a marine biologist and a plumber to build two novelty fish tanks as a home for six goldfish.

Their brief was for a gimmick that would not traumatise the fish: flushes leave the cisterns half full and mesh is placed over pipes to ensure they are not sucked into the bowl.

Bar owner Sue Gray said complaints had led to an RSPCA inspection, but the cisterns were given good marks for goldfish welfare.

This has not satisfied ARC News, an animal rights magazine, which has asked its readers to "ring or drop them a line in a polite manner how there is NO way that the fish can be happy."

Ms Gray is unrepentant: "Everyone thinks it's good fun. They haven't died, so it can't be bad can it?"