The Facebook advert from the Vodka Source bar in Shrewsbury

A Shropshire bar’s drinks promotion which made light of the Shrewsbury explosion has been condemned by the family of one of the victims.

A message about the promotion was sent through a group set up on Facebook to promote the Source Vodka Bar, in Barker Street, Shrewsbury.

The group has 1,653 members and is normally used to send out messages promoting events and offers at the club but on Tuesday a message was posted which has been widely condemned by group members.

The message, which has since been taken down, stated: “Don’t collapse when you see the explosion of the best drinks deals in town that Source bar has leaked out this January.”

Simon Jeavons, 26, from Castlefields, who is one of the group members who got the message, said that he had been angered by it.

He said: “I thought it was out of order.

“I went a bid mad for five minutes and posted what they’d said on the support group pages and said we should boycott them.”

Mark Palmer, who also saw the message, said: “I would like to say how disgusted I am at Source Vodka Bar in their cheap publicity at drumming up business.”

Today a spokesman from the bar said the message had been sent without permission from management by an external promoter who maintained the Facebook group.

Smail Bachene, manager of the bar, said: “I would like to extend my sincere apologies.

“We knew nothing about this message and were not consulted about it.

“We are going to cut all ties with this promoter because we don’t want things like this to happen.

“It was posted by a promoter who did our Facebook page.

“His contract has been terminated.”

Steve Godbold, the father of Scott Godbold, who lived in the flat which collapsed in the explosion and who is now also being treated for burns at Selly Oak Hospital, confirmed that his son had seen the message.

Mr Godbold said: “While I was at hospital with Scott he wanted to log into Facebook to read his ‘get well soon’ messages.

“He was looking at all the different groups when the message popped up. Scott couldn’t believe it.

“When I got home I looked at it again and they’d started to delete the message so I e-mailed the person who posted it and said it was in very poor taste.

“He wrote back and apologised and said he regretted what he had done but I said I felt his apology wasn’t enough and it was not accepted.”

Mr Godbold said that he did not blame the Source Vodka Bar and did not want people to boycott them because he believed the message was the action of one individual.

He added Scott was feeling better and had been out of bed and walking around and that he was due to undergo surgery to his right hand.

By Emma Kasprzak