A MAN who has been branded ‘the bookseller from hell’ has admitted he has been rude to customers – but stands by his decision to charge visitors to his bookshop 50p to enter.

Steve Bloom, who runs Bloomindales second-hand bookshop in Hawes, has been at the centre of a row over his bad manners to customers to his store who have objected to paying the 50p charge, with Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council telling him to clean up his act or to get out of town.

Mr Bloom, 63, who lives near Settle in the Yorkshire Dales, attended a meeting of the parish council on Tuesday evening, and told councillors he stood by his charge – but admitted to have gone too far on occasion with his behaviour.

He has also admitted he should not have called a customer, who went on to complain to the council, "a pain in the arse".

He said: "I regretted it as soon as I said it.

"He arrived just as I was closing, but I allowed him to go in and browse around. But he ignored me completely when I asked for my 50p, which didn't help things at all."

He explained his policy of asking customers for 50p was a way of finding out whether they were serious or not, and that he did not actually take the money.

He said: "There are times when I've wondered whether it's the right thing to do, but I stand by it."

Parish councillors in Hawes have discussed the shop five times since 2013, and chairman Cllr John Blackie said he was a discredit to the market town and has called him the 'bookseller from hell',

Mr Blackie said he has received more than 20 complaints from visitors in the past four years about the shop and Mr Bloom's 50p entry fee for browsers.

He said: “He is doing a disservice to the other traders, to the reputation of the town which is very much a friendly town."

Cllr Blackie said Mr Bloom attended the January parish council meeting and has agreed to meet Cllr Blackie to discuss a more harmonious future.

Cllr Blackie said: “He accepted people had the right to complain about him – and said sometimes he does not know why he behaves the way he does.

“He admitted it had been a ‘business strategy’ to charge the 50p and said if people were willing to pay it then he would give it back. He said it was a way of setting him apart from other bookshops.”