St Albans car dealer ordered not to fly the flag

A CAR dealership in St Albans is going head to head with the district council over the flags it flies outside its premises. The district council has instructed Coupers in Catherine Street to take down the two advertisement flags outside its premises - des

A CAR dealership in St Albans is going head to head with the district council over the flags it flies outside its premises.

The district council has instructed Coupers in Catherine Street to take down the two advertisement flags outside its premises - despite the fact that they have been on display for more than 30 years.

According to planning regulations, all advertisements require consent from a local authority before they can be displayed and in the letter, the council said that they were "unlikely" to grant such consent.

But despite a threat of legal action if the flags are not taken down, Coupers managing director Paul Kendall has chosen to dig in his heels and keep the flags flying.

He said: "It's very odd that the council should suddenly land this on us at such a difficult time. Everyone's desperately trying to promote themselves and the council aren't helping with their unfriendly attitude."

The letter stated that Coupers would be prosecuted should they fail to take down the flags within 14 days, a time period which has now elapsed.

The council's interim head of planning and building control John Young said that he had no comment to make. However after looking into the case, planning portfolio holder, Cllr Chris Brazier, said a neighbour had complained which was why there had been an investigation to see whether the necessary planning permissions were in place.

He advised Mr Kendall to contact him about the issue.