B&B accused of not letting Elle Edwards' dad stay because he is from Liverpool apologises

The owners of a B&B accused of turning away the father of murdered Elle Edwards and a friend because of their Liverpool accents have apologised.

East Hillerton House in Spreyton in Devon, became the centre of a social media storm when its owners were accused by Tim Edwards and his friend, comedian John May, of turning them away after they heard their Liverpudlian accents.

Dad of murdered Elle Edwards claims B&B turned him away after 'hearing scouse accents'

The pair are in the final stages of a 250 mile walk from Merseyside to Land's End to raise money for Elle's foundation.

It was set up in the wake of the 26-year-old's murder on Christmas Eve last year.

The friends had pre-booked the B&B on Thursday, 17 August but said they were turned away by owners who "heard their Scouse accents" and accused them of drinking.

John, an actor and comedian who has paused his career to support Tim, said that in 42 years, that he had never experienced discrimination like this as a result of coming from Liverpool.

• Video: John May and Tim Edwards say it was not the welcome they expected.

Nicola Blandin, the owner of East Hillerton House B&B said the pair were not turned away because of their accents but because they were hostile towards her and her husband when asked about their purpose.

Mrs Blandin told DevonLive: "First and foremost we unreservedly apologise for the situation that has occurred. We are a private B&B, not a hotel and we welcome people into our home. One of the things we pride ourselves on is providing a warm, friendly and safe environment for our guests as well as for ourselves.

"When Mr Edwards and Mr May arrived we felt our enquiry as to what brought them to Devon was met with hostility. The situation then, very unfortunately, became untenable."

She added: "For the last six years we have welcomed guests from all over the UK and across the world and most definitely do not discriminate against anyone. In fact we have a wonderful young lady from Liverpool who has has been renting our annex for some time.

"We regret that this situation has occurred and have since spoken to Mr Edwards to apologise and have also donated to Elle's foundation.

"We hope that we can all move on now from this episode which has been very upsetting and stressful for everyone. We wish Mr Edwards and Mr May every success in the rest of their very worthy charity walk."

Tim and John set off on the last leg of their walking challenge on August 7 and are expected to arrive at Land's End on August 24 - both of their birthdays.

Dad of murdered Elle Edwards says he wants her name to be spoken 'every single day'

The walk aims to not only raise funds for the Elle Edwards Foundation, but also raise awareness about gun and knife crime across the world.

John said: "The owner has called us today and apologised. She told us the way she acted was not the kind of person she was.

"She told us she would make a donation to the fundraiser."