A Liverpool comedian has accused a regulatory body of damaging his business after he interviewed two men who went to Glastonbury dressed as paramedics.
Joe Kidd, who hosts the comedy podcast 'I Kidd You Not', said that the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) had forced him to him to delete a TikTok account which had 100,000 followers.
Mr Kidd interviewed the two men who gained free entry to Glastonbury dressed as paramedics in July this year. The interview appeared across a number of formats including YouTube, TikTok and Audible.
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In October the HCPC wrote to Mr Kidd about the interviews with the two men who dressed up as paramedics. The watchdog advised Mr Kidd that the two men may have committed a criminal offence.
The letter to him reads: "We have been advised that the following content on your online media refers to two individuals using the title Paramedic and dressing in such attire, to gain free access to the Glastonbury Festival.
"Our records show that they are not registered with us as a Paramedic. They are therefore unable to use the title Paramedic or to imply that they are a member of the Paramedic profession. Third parties are also unable to use the title Paramedic to describe them.
"As matters stand, the above content on your platforms could mislead others to think they are Paramedics, or encourage other members of the public to copy the misconduct of these individuals, which would put them at risk of committing a criminal offence."
Mr Kidd said to the ECHO : "I had not heard of this watchdog until they contacted me in October. I did not understand what they were talking about.
"I just don't understand what we have done wrong. I interviewed two lads who went to Glastonbury dressed as paramedics. They did not perform any medical duties. It was just a laugh.
"I had to take down my podcast from TikTok where we had 100,000 followers.
"And our views are our down on YouTube so his whole episode has damaged the business.
"I just feel like there is a hate campaign against our podcast from the health council all because I had lads on as guests who went to Glastonbury dressed up as paramedics. I have worked so hard to get the podcast to we’re it is now.
"All we do is try to make people happy with our comedy content and the amount of people that we get messages from saying that we are helping them when they are having a bad time.
"You just think of all the problems out there in the city as we approach Christmas and this watchdog have my show under investigation. It seems of unfair and wrong.
"I don't know what is going on."
The ECHO put Mr Kidd's concerns to the HCPC.
A spokesperson for the watchdog said: “Individuals cannot use one of our protected titles, such as paramedic, unless they are registered with the HCPC. If they do, they may be subject to prosecution.
"When we receive information that someone may be misusing a designated title we contact the person and/or any relevant third party. We explain the law and tell them they should not misuse the title.”
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