TikTok's Spudman petition hits 100,000 in pitch row

More than 100,000 people have now signed an online petition, started to support TikTok star Spudman who thought he had been forced off his pitch for good.

Ben Newman's regular pitch is being turned into a flowerbed as part of work to improve St Editha's Square in Tamworth, Staffordshire, he said.

He previously said the new pitch he was being offered was not suitable and this week said there was still no promise he could return to his exact spot.

The borough council apologised after meeting him on Wednesday for how it had talked with traders about the changes and would look at its agreements with them.

"We are eager to collaborate with all traders and businesses and will be reaching out more in the upcoming weeks," the authority's chief executive, Stephen Gabriel, said.

Mr Newman, who has four-million followers on TikTok, has been credited with bringing more visitors to the town off the back of his fame.

Previously a spokesperson for the council told him that once the revamp was finished, vendors would be welcomed back and Spudman would be "just a few metres" from his original spot.

Spudman has said before that the spot is important because of the views it affords of the church, enabling fans take nice pictures.

In a post on the site after meeting council officials on Tuesday, Spudman said the chief executive of the council was a "nice man" who had "apologised for the miscommunication" that had left him thinking he had lost his pitch forever.

He said the authority had assured him he was "safe" on the square, and "that's a relief on my front. That makes me want to stay in Tamworth - that makes me happy".

He added there was no promise he could keep his exact spot, after the council told him it needed to be converted to improve drainage.

"They are going to go away and talk to the engineers, site designers and builders and see what they can do," Mr Newman said.

In a statement after the row first blew up, council leader Carol Dean said: "We very much value small local businesses in Tamworth. One such local business is the much-loved Spudman."

She added the redevelopment of St Editha's Square – which includes the new town centre college campus – would also bring hundreds of people into the town daily.

On Wednesday, Mr Gabriel added: "We are currently looking into any previous contractual arrangements, we will continue to keep these discussions open.

"We acknowledge that we could have communicated better with our street traders, and for this we apologised."

Spudman was awarded the freedom of the borough last year, in recognition of his entrepreneurship and innovation.

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