Council gets tough over pub marquee

A disgruntled couple are being forced to tear down a marquee at the back of their pub because council chiefs say it looks out of place.

Marian Coleshill and her husband Alan, licensee at the Grade-II listed Woodman, in Pinner, Middlesex, have been told by they must remove their gala marquee and a storage container because they breach planning laws.

But the couple are furious at Hillingdon Council's demand, and claim the £1,700 marquee does not require planning consent because it is not attached to the main building.

The council has granted them a stay of execution, but could act on its demand next week.

Marian said: "This could cost people their jobs at the pub if we have to pull it down. It has helped us hugely since the smoking ban."

The 10x4 metre marquee is a temporary measure, she added, and they are planning to invest in a new smoking solution when they can afford it.

"We are a community-orientated family pub, we never have any problems I don't know why we are being treated like this," Coleshill added.

"It doesn't stay up all the time and was approved as a legal smoking shelter."

However Jean Palmer, director of planning and community cervices at Hillingdon Council, said "a number of complaints" had been received about the marquee and storage container.

She said: "The council has informed the licensee that these must be removed or be subject to planning enforcement.

"Council officers from planning enforcement and conservation have been working with the licensees since July 2007 to find solutions that will be satisfactory to both parties but as yet no solution has been reached.

"This has included replacing the marquee with a timber framed structure that will be more in keeping with the listed building."