Southend Council has threatened to prosecute a pair of shop owners in Westcliff-on-Sea, after ruling that an outdoor shop sign is in breach of regulations.
Teresa Tofts, the owner of Tooft Originals, has been summoned to appear before magistrates later this month. Mark Newman, leaseholder of the building in which Ms Toofts runs her business, is also being prosecuted by Southend Council.
Mrs Toofts accused her local council of ‘bullying’ her into removing the sign, which is large, pink and positioned high up the building. Southend Council argued that it had already ordered the shop owners to remove the sign, which conforms neither to national regulations nor local planning restrictions on the height of advertising signs.
Mrs Toofts said: “Is it all to do with it being pink? They’re just bullies at the council.”
Mr Newman and Mrs Toofts questioned why they had not been invited to a meeting on the matter before a decision was made to take legal action. Mrs Toofts hinted that had the council asked her to lower the sign, she would have complied.
Southend Council has described the sign as “detrimental to visual amenity.”
Here at The Sussex Sign Company, we sympathise with Mrs Toofts, but the appearance and placement of signage should always conform to regulations.