Pub operator slams Wiltshire Council after coffee sign found in breach of planning laws

Toby Brett, managing director of four-strong Banwell House Pub Company, was ordered to pay £765 over 12 months.

The offence related to a small illuminated coffee sign on the outside of one of Brett’s pubs, the Rose & Crown in Trowbridge, which is a Grade II-listed building.

Wiltshire Council planning enforcement sent Brett a letter shortly after he reopened the pub in 2011, informing him that the coffee sign was in breach of planning regulations.

Following a meeting with planning officer Sue Morgan, it was agreed that the sign could remain if it was not illuminated, so Brett removed the bulb. However, he re-ceived another letter from the council in December 2011 asking him to remove the “illuminated sign”.

A summons was not issued until January 2013 upon which Brett removed the sign, but the council refused to retract the prosecution. At Chippenham Magistrate’s Court on 12 February, Brett was fined £250 plus a £15 court charge and the council was awarded £500 costs.

“It is interesting how the council choose to spend their money fighting a battle where the outcome does not benefit anyone and adds cost to a local businessman investing in the town,” said Brett.

A council spokesperson said: “The building is Grade II listed and certain changes have to be done following the correct process.”