The Good Life restaurant almost wrecked by web of lies

A woman with a personal grudge waged an internet campaign against a Shrewsbury restaurant by posting negative reviews on a series of websites.

Helen Griffiths posted up to 30 reviews criticising The Good Life restaurant on review sites such as TripAdvisor using false names and aliases. But now the marketing manager has been forced to apologise.

The apology comes after The Good Life owner Joanna Langfield turned sleuth to track her down.

Ms Griffiths, of Salford, started her campaign in September after marrying a former partner of Ms Langfield, of Berrington, near Shrewsbury.

The reviews about the vegetarian restaurant in Wyle Cop said staff were 'cold and unattentive' while one claimed: "The Vegan option wasn't Vegan. There were hairs in my quiche."

In an apology published on the Times' announcements page, Ms Griffiths, admitted the whole episode was a scam. She said: "Misrepresenting the quality of the food and service of the restaurant which, from other reviews and nominations, does indicate an exemplary track record.

"I made these comments based on absolutely no knowledge of the business, or any of the company's staff, as I have never actually visited or eaten at the restaurant."

She has since been given a police caution for harassment in relation to the incident. Today Ms Langfield, 40, spoke of her relief the ordeal was finally over as she said it caused a 25 per cent slump in business.

Ms Langfield said the reviews started off quite extreme and were nasty.

She added: "Before Christmas we got a statement from our accountant showing an unusual dip and it was a really distressing situation. I felt quite powerless to stop it."

She said a local internet review site finally managed to trace Ms Griffiths' through her IP address.

The TripAdvisor website now tells a different story. The restaurant today had 19 reviews, with 16 classed as excellent, two as very good and just one as average.

Leave your comments about The Good Life on Andy Richardson's restaurant review.