HE IS the boss of a national car parking firm, netting more than £1m a year for the NHS from motorists using East Yorkshire hospitals.
But Duncan Bowins, managing director of NCP, may have bitten off more than he can chew after branding Hull a "s***hole" on his Facebook page.
His comments have led to a public dressing down from Hull City Council leader Stephen Brady.
NCP runs 900 car parks across the country, including sites at Hull Royal Infirmary and Castle Hill Hospital, which make the city's NHS trust £1m a year - and NCP a healthy but undisclosed fee.
Mr Bowins wrote: "So Hull has been named UK City of Culture 2017. That's a new spelling of s***hole."
He claims it was written in jest as he poked fun at a friend from Hull.
Stephen Brady, leader of Hull City Council and a key architect of the City of Culture 2017 bid, said Mr Bowins's comments were wrong.
He said: "It's totally unacceptable for someone in that position to be saying those sorts of things.
"It's obvious there are still ignorant people about. I just think these people are ill-informed.
"They should get on with doing their jobs properly."
Cllr Brady also said he believed the post was inappropriate coming from someone in an important position.
The post was deleted within an hour of the Mail contacting NCP.
In a statement, the company defended it as a joke taken out of context.
A spokesman said: "This is Duncan's personal Facebook page and the comments refer to a longstanding joke between his Hull-based friend and himself, as to whose home city is better.
"We apologise if this has caused any offence, it was not meant to be taken seriously.
"It was private banter between two close friends, and has been taken totally out of context."
Hull's year as UK City of Culture will be marked with a £12m programme of more than 1,500 cultural events, shows, exhibitions, gigs, concerts, festivals, artist residences and outreach activities spanning the whole of 2017.
It is estimated winning will deliver a knock-on £60m economic boost to the city, creating jobs and tourism opportunities throughout the East Riding.
The opening ceremony will be created by Tracey Seaward, who grew up in Hull and went on to produce Steven Spielberg's Warhorse and the London 2012 Olympic opening ceremony.
Other major events planned for the year include "an aerial spectacular" set against the backdrop of the River Hull tidal barrier.
