Telford cafe couple ‘heartbroken’ by council ‘illegal sign’ warning prompting their income to 'crash'
A couple say they are ‘heartbroken’ after the council sent them a warning letter to remove an ‘illegal’ sign to advertise their café.
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John and Debbie Johnson say since they removed the sign advertising the Heath Hill Cafe, Bostin Fittle, their income has crashed by £150 a day putting their livelihood at risk.
“The sign has been out at 7.30am and back at 2pm on most days for the last 10 years,” said John, aged 62, who has been running the café on the industrial estate for four years.
“The letter we received on February 10 was the first time the council had contacted us.”
The letter, from the council’s Neighbourhood Enforcement Team, warned the café owners that the sign was on the council’s land and it “creates a danger and nuisance to the public.”
Giving 48 hours for the couple to remove the sign, the letter, stated that the council’s highway authority has a duty to ensure the public can use the highway in a safe manner.
It warned that the couple would get a fixed penalty notice if they did not remove the sign. The couple confirmed that the sign was removed straight away.
Mrs Johnson said she was “heartbroken” and cried on the day when they were told to remove the sign. She said the impact on their business has been devastating.
“I just broke down in tears and asked what are we going to do,” she said. “I have no pension and what are the chances of me getting another job at 60? John has heart problems so this is it for us.”
Other businesses on the Heath Hill Industrial Estate in Dawley are understood to have received the same letters.
“Our takings were down substantially on that day,” said Mrs Johnson. “On the Friday, which is normally our busiest day with workers coming for breakfast, we usually have a queue out of the door. But we didn’t that Friday.”
The desperate café owners have even taken to making a sign on the top of a broom handle to advertise the business and pull punters in. The Heath Hill café is also known as the Bostin Fittle which, as John explained, is a Black Country term for good food. He used to run The Cat at Enville.
They have also been posting about their plight on Facebook, contacted their local MP, and councillors to ask them to take up cudgels on their behalf.
“We have hundreds of likes and comments on Facebook,” said Mrs Johnson. “But it is bums on seats that we need.”
Mrs Johnson added that she has tried to speak to someone at the council bit has encountered problems with the digital Ask Tom system. And she said that once she did speak to a human being they referred her somewhere else.
“The first contact we had with the council was the letter,” she said. “There was no attempt to even speak to us about it and come to some compromise.”
“I have a really poor opinion of the council,” she said. “If only someone had come and spoken to us first, maybe we could sort something out. We live from hand to mouth but the sign is worth a lot to us.”
A spokesperson from Telford & Wrekin Council said: said: “We have been made aware of concerns raised following the removal of the sign.
“Our primary focus is to always protect care and invest for all residents and as such, are reviewing the case and keen to work with the café to find a resolution in due course.”
