A council has been branded “mean-spirited” for banning a pub landlord from giving customers rides home. Paul Hartfield, who took over the Flying Horse in Smarden in Ashford, Kent, had been offering customers lifts in his own black cab after taking over the pub from his daughter. A former black cab garage owner himself, Mr Hartfield hoped the service would ensure customers returned safely to their homes without being over the limit. The landlord earns no profit from the scheme as he asked customers accepting the lifts to donate to the MND Association, a regular customer having been diagnosed with the disease. The cab service has already helped around 100 punters get home safely since Mr Hartfield began running it in November 2025 and raised £700 for the motor neurone disease charity in December alone. However on Friday, following the publication of an article about the free rides by a local newspaper, Ashford borough council wrote to Mr Hartfield telling him they would have to stop. Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr Hartfield said: “It’s mean-spirited …