[Amy]

The parents of Craig Coates, the Norfolk hairdresser taking part in the reality television show Big Brother, went on the attack yesterday against the "unfair" criticism of their son.

Johnny and Yvette Coates, who live in Cromer, told the EDP they understood there would be negative press about their son if he took part in BB6, but some of the accusations and jibes levelled at him were simply untrue.

The couple were especially angry at a suggestion that Craig's one-man business in Sheringham could be harmed, particularly after he had worked so hard to set it up.

"The idea that his business would suffer because of all this annoyed me more than anything else," said Mr Coates.

"Of course there are going to be negative things said, but they need to be fair.

"And I think it's particularly important for people locally to get behind him, after all he is a decent local lad who has brought a lot of trade into Sheringham and done very well in a short time with his business.

"His business is not going to go down the pan, just the opposite in fact."

The couple said the level of support shown among family, friends and people they hardly knew had been heartening.

"Everywhere you go people are being really positive," said Mrs Coates.

"It's just one or two people saying one or two ridiculous things and they don't even know him."

Asked whether they wanted their son to win or whether it would be better if he came out before too long, Mr Coates said: "To me, he has won already by getting on there.

"It would obviously be nice to see him because he has already been away for five weeks, including the time before the show, but we are supporting him in whatever he does."

And the couple said they felt this year's show was different from the previous five prog-rammes.

"It is a harder game this year, it is not the same game they have played before - and Craig and the others don't even know it because they can't see all that is going on, like the way the eviction nominations were done in the first week," said Mrs Coates.

"But he went on because he loves the show and he is there to have fun."

An appointment card for Craig's hair salon, St Hair, sold for £1 on the internet site eBay yesterday.

Only one bid was made for the card, which has Craig's writing on it. The winning bidder was an eBay user called chelseanog. The auction lasted for three days.

Article EDP 24