A Cullingworth councillor has criticised actor Stephen Fry’s call for a boycott of the Winter Olympics in Russia.

Fry called for Great Britain to boycott the games over Russia’s poor record on gay rights.

But on a recent blog entry, Coun Cooke said although he approved of taking a stand against Russia, an Olympic boycott was not the way forward.

He said: “Boycotts of this sort are collective actions, and prevent people who may want to participate in the event from doing so.

“Stephen Fry hasn’t spent every waking hour during the past four years perfecting pirouettes at a tatty ice rink in South London. Any boycott should be a matter for these people, and not for self-appointed spokesmen such as Stephen Fry.”