A ROW appears to be brewing in Stockton over town hall coffee drinking habits.

Liberal Democrat councillor Suzanne Fletcher has called on Stockton Borough Council to use fair trade tea and coffee after a £300,000 sponsorship deal with Nescafe fell through.

The deal with Nestle, which produces leading brand Nescafe, collapsed after pressure from protestors, campaigning against the company's sales of baby food in the Third World.

Following the collapse of the deal, Coun Fletcher said: "I haven't drunk council tea or coffee for many years now, and take in my own herb tea bags, and I had no idea they were using Nescafe.

"I will be taking some Traidcraft tea and coffee into the next meeting.

"I have also written to the chief executive to ask him to ensure that the council buys tea and coffee from Fair Trade sources, where profit goes back to the workers in the countries where it is produced."

A council spokeswoman confirmed Nescafe was available at the municipal buildings.

She said: "Council staff were recently consulted on the standard of the tea service and had the chance to make suggestions and express their views.

"For a very long time now, the council has been using Maxwell House and Nescafe as this is what people seem to prefer."

"Value for money and customer satisfaction are high priorities for the service and any suggestions or comments from council members or staff are always welcome."