AN ANGRY soft play centre firm has said "this is not the best time to ask for freebies" after a request from an influencer.

Monkey Bizzness Adventure Play in Eldon Way, Hockley, has been praised for its response to someone asking for a "collaboration" to bring their children to play in exchange for an Instagram post.

The firm shared the exchange in a post on their Facebook page, which saw the unamed influencer ask if the firm would allow them to play with their children and have some lunch to then collaborate on an online post.

The firm responded: "We've been open for a grand total of 106 days out of a total of 448 over the pandemic and have really struggled to keep going like so many other businesses in the UK, and so we have a slightly different collaboration to propose.

"You can pay for you and your kids to play here and have lunch, and you don't even need to do an Instagram post. We're sorry to sound a little bit abrupt here, but this really isn't a good time to be looking for freebies from the hospitality industry."

Explaining their response to followers, the firm said: "This really isn’t the best time to be asking for freebies from the hospitality industry…soft play centres, restaurants, cafes, bars etc.

"Our response might have been a bit abrupt or even rude, but there are so many people out there who don’t realise how close businesses like ours have come to being wiped out entirely because of the pandemic, even with grants and other government support.

"We would never expect people to come and do things for our business just for the ‘exposure,’ and it works both ways."

The company has been praised by other fluencers and residents for their response.

Influencer Dazza said: "This is why people think Influncers are all a waste of time. whenever I've messaged a company, it's always to give them something actually decent out of it.

"Don't be a Diddy and message and just expect it all for free cause you've got a coupla followers on Instagram."

Natasha Fuller said: "Wow! You are so reasonably priced anyway, not sure why they would need to ask for a freebie! Great response."

John Wakefield said: "You’ve probably got so much more exposure (and kudos) for sharing this exchange than you would’ve done with the “collaboration”. Good work!"