A regional daily’s controversial pub reviews column has returned weeks after the editorial chief who wrote it was put at risk of redundancy.

Andy Parkes, group managing editor of Newsquest South London and Sussex, had been responsible for writing the PubSpy column in Brighton daily The Argus before being placed on gardening leave last month.

But its future was put in doubt after the announcement that Andy’s role had been placed at risk of redundancy.

The revived PubSpy returned last Friday with a review of the recently opened New Port Arms, in Southwick.

In the review, the anonymous columnist wrote: “Upon arrival, a pair of loved-up swans glided serenely across the idyllic setting of the marina with boats of all shapes and sizes moored up, while a couple canoodled on a bench on the decking outside while nursing a glass of wine each.

“PubSpy, on the other hand, has no time for such public displays of affection. There is serious work to be done.

“I’ve been indisposed for a couple of weeks but rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated – and I’m back.”

After its publication, Jo Wadsworth, editor of the independent Brighton & Hove News, posted on Twitter: “Oh goodness, Argus PubSpy is back. They seem a little… different though.”

HTFP reported in 2017 that a group calling itself the ‘Brighton bartenders’ launched a petition to get the column removed from The Argus and called for the newspaper to apologise for the “inaccuracies and embellishments of reviews already published”.

The column had also topped Newsquest’s online charts in January this year after the column reported how the then-anonymous reviewer had been offered “a w*nk” by a patron in a Brighton pub.

HTFP has approached PubSpy for a comment on their return.