A LANDLADY involved in a bitter row with the brewery today said that the episode has affected her health.

Marilyn Hutchinson, of the Gibraltar Hotel, Blackburn, has been hospitalised for two weeks after suffering a severe asthma attack which she claims was brought on by the stress of the dispute with Daniel Thwaites.

Mrs Hutchinson, who runs the pub in Dukes Brow with husband Cliff-- a former brewer of the year and winner of best kept cellar and best beer awards -- is one of three tenants to have been kicked out of their pubs for refusing to install Electronic Draft Information Systems, dubbed 'the spy in the cellar.'

The Hutchinsons are set to be evicted on December 16. Deby Dawson of the Bay Horse, Baxenden, and Joan and Lawrence Theaker of the Aqueduct, Ewood, have both received notice from solicitors acting for Thwaites to leave their pubs on Christmas Eve.

All three landlords are enraged by the decision, which they claim invades their privacy and mocks their business skills. But Thwaites has always maintained that the system would be an asset to business.

Mrs Hutchinson said her recent asthma attack -- the worst she has ever suffered -- was brought on by the stress of the row.

She But Mrs Hutchinson said: "It has been a very difficult time. We have been here 11 years and have seen our young customers grow up and get married. We have even done the Christenings for their babies. This is not just a pub to us this is our home." Mrs Hutchinson, who has had asthma for the past three years, said she started having problems breathing during the middle of the night. She was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary by ambulance, then transferred to Queen's Park Hospital. "The doctors said I had virtually no oxygen left in my blood through the stress," said Mrs Hutchinson. "We were both panicking which made it worse."

After leaving hospital her medication was stepped up. She said: "At the moment I am on tablets twice a day, three different types of inhalers and six kinds of steroids."

Thwaites refused to comment on Mrs Hutchinson's health but her GP DR Ramesh Rautray said:

"She is suffering from asthma and is on a lot of medication at the moment," Dr Rautray said. "She has just come out of hospital after a very bad attack of asthma and stress is one of many causes of asthma attacks." Customers of the pub have rallied round the Hutchinson's and have started a petition which they will hand into Thwaites.

Mel Green, who lives in Gibraltar Street, has been going in the pub for eight years and is having her reception there when she marries fiance Michael Heaton.

She said: "We will be devastated when Cliff and Marilyn go -- everyone will be. They have done so much for charity and people go in there just for them two. I won't be setting foot in there once they leave."

Fellow regular Robin Astles, also of Gibraltar Street, added: "They work hard for their customers and it is with some disbelief that they find themselves being asked to vacate within the next six months." But one landlady who has embraced the new technology Margo Grimshaw, said it was better for business.

"The trade and the business world is changing and moving on," she said. "I remember the fuss that was made when measure metres came in. Big businesses now have e-mails-fax, Internet -- things that were pure fantasy only five years ago. If our trade is to go forward we have to look forward."