Licensee in council fight over car park sign

A licensee has slammed his local council for forcing him to take down signage advertising disabled parking bays.

Roger Hodgkinson of the Traveller's Rest in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, says he cannot let his disabled customers know about the newly-built parking bays as Kirklees Council is forcing him to take the signage down. As a result he claims he can't fully meet the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act.

He said: "I created two parking bays which allowed people to park safely, and I put a sign up which highlighted the disabled parking. The council have now informed me to take the sign down, and as a result I can't conform with the Disability Discrimination Act. It went through planning but it came back saying they objected to it.

"Some disabled people come to our quiz nights and they were finding it hard to get back from the car park."

He is particularly unhappy about the decision as he feels his disabled customers will be disadvantaged as the bays have been built close to the Punch pub so they have easy access. He believes that unless he can put up the signage other non-disabled customers will park in the spaces.

However, Kirklees Council say the problem has arisen because the signs are illuminated. A spokeswoman said: "The area is in the green belt. The illuminated signs were turned down because they were detrimental to the area."

A spokesman for Punch Taverns, which has been supporting Mr Hodgkinson with his case, said: "We always work very closely with council planners and try to find the best solution for our retailers. This decision is disappointing but hopefully there will be a resolution that allows Roger to inform people of his disabled car parking spaces in another way."