Outrage after Reform-led council ban journalist who revealed Grandmother's 'Lego blockade' plight in latest attack on media freedom

A council has been accused of launching an attack on democracy after it banned a local journalist who uncovered a story about a grandmother's legal battle over a garden gate. Reform-led Derbyshire County Council has decided to 'end engagement' with Eddie Bisknell, one of the county's Local Democracy Reporters. It comes after Mr Bisknell revealed the case of Helene Ball, an 81-year-old retired teacher who won a three-year, £50,000 fight with the council over the right to walk out her own back gate. The council was heavily criticised by a judge over the 'pugnacious' case and sparked further outrage when it dumped giant concrete 'Lego' blocks outside Mrs Ball's home following her victory. Mr Bisknell is one of 165 local reporters, funded by the BBC, to cover local politics. His work appears in the Derby Telegraph as well as the Derbyshire Times. The story about Mrs Ball was later covered by national newspapers, including the Daily Mail. Announcing the ban in a press release, Deputy Council leader Councillor Stephen Reed said they had 'lost confidence' in Mr Bisknell's reporting following what they claim is a 'prolonged period of concerns regarding reporting standards, accuracy, balance and professional conduct'. Announcing the ban in a press release, Deputy Council leader Councillor Stephen Reed said they had 'lost confidence' in Mr Bisknell's reporting Derbyshire Telegraph Editor in Chief Natalie Fahy said they 'utterly reject this attack on our journalism' and 'stand fully opposed to the false claims' made about Eddie's' reporting. In an interview with BBC Radio Derby he was specifically critical of Mr Bisknell's story about Mrs Ball. He complained that the story shouldn't have been published because it related to 'ongoing legal proceedings' and claimed the council had only been given four hours to respond to allegations it had 'bullied' Mrs Ball. He said the result was a story that was 'at worst irresponsible and at best an editorial opinion without all the facts'. He went on: 'But I think the issue we have here is more about the trust we have with journalists, and one journalist in particular, in how this story's come out.'This journalist who brought this story actually has a history with the council, and multiple complaints from the council, not the administration, about the way he's conducted his stories and the way he writes a particular narrative. 'This is really concerning when journalism is there... and we believe in freedom of speech and we believe in freedom of the press, and it's there to scrutinise local government.'Derbyshire Reform later said the decision to end engagement with Mr Bisknell is not an outright 'ban' on engaging with local news, but any requests for comment or information from the reporter specifically will not be met with a response. Derbyshire Telegraph Editor in Chief Natalie Fahy refuted the allegations, pointing to an email giving the council 24 hours to respond and the fact the original story came from a court judgment not an 'ongoing' court case. She said Mr Bisknell had 'been a bit of a thorn in the council's side (as any good journalist should be)' but had not received any complaints about his previous reporting. 'I know the council has been unhappy about some articles, but complaining on Facebook is not the correct way to resolve an article you believe to be inaccurate or wrong,' she said. 'We utterly reject this attack on our journalism, stand fully opposed to the false claims made about Eddie's and our editorial practices and urge Cllr Reed to retract his press releases.' Councillor Alex Dale, leader of the Conservative Group, criticised the decision. He said: 'Freedom of the press is an absolute cornerstone of our democracy' adding that 'any attack on the freedom of the press is an attack on democracy itself'.It comes after Reform-led Nottinghamshire County Council issued a similar ban against the Derby Telegraph's sister paper, the Nottingham Post, following an article about local government reorganisation. The authority stopped sending press releases to the publication and inviting them to council events prompting then Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to brand the party 'cowards'. It was later lifted following a legal challenge by the newspaper. Mrs Ball, a grandmother of four, took legal action against Derbyshire County Council when she returned home one morning in April 2023 to find a metal fence had been cemented over a 98cm gap in her rear garden wall.The gap leads into an adjoining council-owned car park, but Mrs Ball, who has lived at the house in Matlock since 1967, said she and her family had used the route unopposed for almost 60 years. Mrs Ball argued that her continued access amounted to prescriptive rights to access the route and a judge later ruled in her favour – with the access now being added to the deed for the land.The council was also ordered by the courts to pay Mrs Ball's costs of around £50,000 and to ensure her pedestrian and vehicular access is not impeded again.Mrs Ball was then shocked to discover 54 huge 'Lego-style' blocks placed outside her home earlier this month. The 2ft-high bricks line the narrow road behind her property and the grass verge alongside her garden wall. In a statement Reform UK in Derbyshire said it had 'taken the decision to end engagement with an individual Local Democracy Reporter following a prolonged period of concerns regarding reporting standards, accuracy, balance and professional conduct'.It added: 'The administration wishes to make absolutely clear that this decision is not an attack on freedom of the press, local journalism or the principle of scrutiny.'In fact, it is precisely because we believe a free press is so important that we believe journalists must be held to the highest standards of fairness, accuracy, balance and professionalism.'Mr Reed later accepted his initial claim about the amount of time the council was given to respond was incorrect. A BBC spokesman said: 'Independent journalism is vital to local democracy, and journalists must be free to question those in power without fear of reprisals. We urge both sides in seeking a resolution.'