AN AVID Les Dennis fan is distraught after his idol refused to let him name his pub the Les Dennis Lounge.

Jake Goldstein, 28, from Brighton, has just taken over The Globe pub in Middle Street, Brighton.

He had dreams of opening a “Les Dennis Lounge” given his obsession with the TV celebrity, and saw this as the perfect opportunity.

But according to Jake, Mr Dennis turned down the offer and refused to have the pub named after him.

Jake has now filmed himself delivering a heartfelt message to Les Dennis, telling him how he feels about the rejection, which he posted on the internet.

In the video he says: “Les Dennis let me down.

“Don’t get me wrong Les, I think you’re all right.

“I have followed you for years, your highs and lows, I feel like I was there with you, I feel like I understood you. But now Les, now I understand nothing.

“All I wanted was to open a lovely little bar in Brighton for all little Les Dennises in the world to play, but you had to ruin it, didn’t you, Les?

“When we called you up full of hope, can we open the Les Dennis Lounge, your name in lights Les, you seemed so into it.

“But then we got the call the next day – ‘my agent wouldn’t like it’. Be your own man Les. A whole pub in your honour, Les, but you turned it down, Les, you turned it down.”

Jake said Mr Dennis had been an idol of his for most of his life and described the celebrity, best known as the presenter for TV programme Family Fortunes , as “pretty sweet for a kid in the 90s”.

Despite the rejection, Jake is finding other ways to create enough of a Les Dennis atmosphere in his newly acquired pub.

He said there will be pictures of the actor and presenter on the walls.

He has also ordered Les Dennis masks for pubgoers to wear whether they like the celebrity or not.

He said pictures of other “old school” celebrities will decorate the pub to make sure Mr Dennis is not alone.

Jake said: “They may or may not like us having their pictures up.

“But it’s all tongue in cheek, essentially somewhere that’s really fun and a place for people who are up for a laugh.”

Jake, who has worked at bars in Brighton including the Plotting Parlour and Daddy Long Legs, has even created a “bittersweet” Les Dennis cocktail.

He said: “It’s made in honour of the man himself.

“When we spoke on the phone he said his agent wouldn’t like us naming it after him in case something bad happened at the bar which could reflect badly on him.

“We weren’t overly happy with his decision but very amicable.”

Jake has now decided to rename the pub Cease And Desist.

He said: “It will be like an American dive bar – lots of whisky and food which will be served until 1am and bands playing, a place for a good time.”

The pub opens on Friday.

Mr Dennis’s agent did not respond to The Argus’s repeated requests for a comment.