An independent coffee chain claims it doubled its sales after Laurence Fox said he would be boycotting it.

The actor turned right-wing politician, who spent time in Oxford starring as DS James Hathaway in ITV’s Morse spin-off Lewis, became involved in a row with a network of London cafes called Grind.

They pulled their advertising from GB News after they were criticised by climate pressure group Stop Funding Heat.

The coffee brand, which sells home compostable pods, said it had "inadvertently" advertised on the channel "as part of a larger portfolio ad buy" and "the sceptical stance on climate change adopted by many of the channels presenters does not align with Grind’s sustainability efforts."

GB News presenter Michelle Dewberry then claimed that the coffee shop’s withdrawal was damaging to free speech.

She said: “Politically motivated online pressure groups have made it their life’s work to try and close us down.”

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Mr Fox, who launched the right-wing Reclaim Party in 2020, tweeted that he would make his own personal ‘boycott’ of Grind and encouraged his followers to join him, using the Twitter hashtag “#BoycottGrind”.

However, the chain said the outcry "had the opposite of the intended effect", with web traffic nearly doubling in the day following the tweet, and a 50 per cent increase in sales.

David Abrahamovitch, CEO of Grind, said: “It’s unsettling for any business that finds themselves at the centre of a Twitter-storm like this, however we stand by our decision to pull further ad spend from GB News.

"It was a real relief to see that our decision led to tremendous support from new and existing customers alike”. 

Grind said it has donated £1,432 - twice the amount it spent with GB news - to the WWF Climate Crisis Fund in Mr Fox's name.

Mr Fox, 44, spoke at a rally in Oxford against LTNs in February urging protesters to fight for their ‘fundamental human right to be left alone’.

GB News has been contacted.