Trader's anger over business sign rules (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Trader's anger over business sign rules

A BOURTON resident is angry after her attempts to promote her business have repeatedly hit hurdles.

Jackie Whitehill, who owns Windrush Tiles on the Bourton Industrial estate, has on numerous occasions erected signs on the Fosseway to promote the showroom, only to later find the signs discarded.

She wrote a letter to Gloucestershire County Council to apply for planning permission to erect the signs.

However, they explained she would not be able to erect a board on the public highway unless it was anything to do with tourism.

Jackie said: "The government is always going on about all this help available to those who want to start up a small business and yet we receive no encouragement here.

"Our business is tucked away on the industrial estate along with 10 to 12 other businesses and people should know about us."

She said on one occasion she had managed to erect a sign and received around £1,000 of business in just four days.

She added: "It's not causing an obstruction and I'm willing to adhere to any criteria the council may have as to the appearance of the signs.

"People should know there are services available that might be of interest to them. A customer from Warwick had seen one of our signs and made a special trip back to Bourton to buy some tiles. There seems to be one rule for tourism and another for businesses."

County council spokeswoman Nicola Davies said: "Any unauthorised signs on the highway that are advertising premises are taken very seriously as we have to minimise the clutter of signs on our principal roads. The A429 is a very busy road and signs on the highway are there to direct traffic. The Bourton Industrial Estate is extremely visible from the main road and well signed in the local area. However, we are much more sympathetic to the need for localised signs within the industrial estate."