PUB regulars in East Yorkshire have launched a campaign to turn an ugly duckling into a swan.

Customers of the Black Swan public house in Market Place, Pocklington, were shocked when the pub reopened after refurbishment with a new name.

Instead of the traditional Black Swan sign, the pub, which has recently been taken over by York-based The Exhibition Hotel Group, unveiled a new title - The Mucky Duck.

Pocklington town councillor Richard Bryon said the new name has met with strong disapproval from both pub regulars and local residents.

He said: "The pub has been named the Black Swan for as long as anyone can remember. It is part of the town's tradition and heritage."

Coun Bryon claims the pub did not consult the townspeople about the new name.

He has written a letter to the Exhibition Hotel Group asking them to consider changing the name. The Friends of the Black Swan have started a petition and hope to collect more than 200 signatures.

"Mucky Duck is a crude and tacky name. I don't think it does their chain of pubs any credit whatsoever," Coun Bryon said.

"We just want them to reconsider. There is a lot of strong feeling about it.

"People say what's in a name, but if names don't matter then why change it?"

Palma Joyce, operation supervisor for the Exhibition Hotel Group, said if customers didn't like the name of the pub, they did not have to drink there.

She said the pub had been known as the Mucky Duck by regulars before the name was changed.

The new name reflected the refurbishment and the change in ownership, she said.

"The only way we would consider changing it back is if we had a shortage of customers.

"They can carry on calling it the Black Swan if they like, we don't mind."

She said pubs often changed their names when there was a change of ownership.

"We didn't change the name to upset anyone, we thought it was amusing."

Updated: 10:53 Tuesday, September 16, 2003