A bar owner has taken to social media to urge drinkers not to ask for tap water.
Sam Espensen, co-founder of Bristol Spirit, told customers on Twitter to think before ordering tap water in her bar as it "really affects her business".
Punters often order food when visiting the bar, but ask for free tap water instead of spending their money on drinks from the menu, reports Bristol Live .
In her tweet directed at customers, Sam wrote: “If you just ask for tap water, it feels like you are telling us you don't value our business enough to buy a drink, which is the reason we exist.”
The tweet has since been removed, after Espensen said she had received some "seriously unpleasant responses, DMs and abuse" from "internet idiots".
Posting on Twitter, she said: "OK - so thanks to some seriously unpleasant responses, DMs and abuse - I've deleted the main thread about tap water. There's always a load of internet idiots who ruin healthy debate, but we're not here to take that nonsense. Support your local bar people!"
Many social media posters rallied to her defence. One user said: "People are mad. I frequently drink tap water while eating but totally got that as a bar with pop up food that doesn't work for you. Worth you mentioning it and I hope you get some positive effects as well as the nut jobs"
Sam told Bristol Live : "This is happening across the industry. This is partly down to people wanting to drink healthier or non alcoholic drinks (which is great), but as we offer around 50 different options for those not wanting to drink alcohol it certainly can't account for all of them.
"So I wanted to highlight to those people that them drinking tap water means we are unlikely to meet the average spend from their visit required to break even or turn a profit.
"We have a small amount of covers which means that during a particular service we an work out what we're likely to make. Last week for example, I counted 14 people over five services drinking water.
