POSTERS have been popping up banning Cradley's MP from shops in protest at her stance on free school meals.

The Tory MP for Stourbridge, who voted with Conservative colleagues against extending free school meals for children in England over the half-term holiday, claims the stunt is "politically driven" and a sign that "cancel culture has arrived in Stourbridge".

As the row showed no sign of going away this week, despite a pledge locally by Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, to offer free food vouchers to families in the borough in crisis, Ms Webb faced criticism on Twitter and now posters have appeared on shop windows in town saying she is barred from entering the premises as she was "one of 322 Conservative MPs to vote against extending the free school meals over the holidays".

The posters add: "Workers at this store/shop/pub believe we need to take care of the most vulnerable people in society, especially during a time of crisis."

Ms Webb, whose Stourbridge constituency includes Cradley, said: "I absolutely understand people are concerned about children going without meals in these difficult times.

"For the record, no Conservative MP voted to starve children – that’s a social media myth.

"We just didn’t agree with a non-binding motion from Labour, which was short-term, last minute and failed to recognise the billions of pounds the government has put into the welfare system to support lower income families during this pandemic.

"It’s really very difficult to comment on why shops want to ban their MP because they disagree with them. It's happening all over the country and seems politically driven.

"Perhaps it’s a bad sign that the cancel culture has arrived in Stourbridge and all that means for free speech and understanding different points of view. It certainly does nothing to advance the debate on how we address the issue of children going without meals.

"My job now is concentrating on finding a long-term solution to how we deal with this complicated issue and I will be passing on my thoughts to ministers."

Meanwhile, a petition launched by footballer Marcus Rashford to help end child food poverty has topped one million signatures – including nearly 1,000 from people in Stourbridge.

The petition calls on the Government to expand access to free school meals, provide meals and activities during school holidays and expand the NHS Healthy Start scheme which offers free milk, fruit and vegetables to families on certain benefits.