WE have made the decision to ban prolific website user "Argus Reader Ron" from commenting on our online stories.

'Ron' left almost 1,500 often lengthy messages on the site in the space of a year, often within seconds of a story going live.

While we appreciate our loyal readers taking a keen interest in their local news, we have been receiving several daily complaints about his contributions.

We have also taken the decision to ban a number of other users in recent weeks for leaving unacceptable comments.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind all commenters that while we feel it is important that our readers have the chance to discuss stories, this should not be taken as licence to abuse other readers, Argus staff, or the people featured in our stories, while hiding behind a keyboard.

Abusive or discriminatory comments have no place on this website and will be removed, if brought to the attention of Argus staff.

They degrade the debate and scare off people who may otherwise wish to share their stories with our readers.

Contrary to popular conspiracy theories doing the rounds, we can confirm that "Argus Reader Ron" is certainly not a member the Argus team.

If you feel a comment is inappropriate, you can flag it up to the newsdesk by clicking the “report” button and it will be reviewed as soon as possible.

We do not have the ability to pre-moderate comments on our stories.