Shop, pub and restaurant owners in the town received letters from West Sussex County Council, telling them their street furniture and A-boards would be taken away if they did not remove them from the street, or apply for an expensive licence.

Too expensive

Paula Waugh, owner of café Toast by the Coast, in East Street, said: "I just think it's a pity, because the customers want to sit outside."

Paula would like to get a licence for furniture, but said the cost was prohibitive.

"For me to get a licence, I would need to pay more than £300," she said.

"As a small business owner, that's not feasible."

License is a farce

Andrew Freeman, of the Angel Bar, in East Street, is unable to get a licence, because the council says the pavement is too narrow.

"It's been a bit of a farce," he said.

Kate Ridgway-Brown, owner of beauty salon Glam, in the High Street, has spent more than £400 on A-boards to advertise her customer deals.

"It's really tough out there at the moment and the council are not helping at all," she said.

"I don't understand how they can just come and take away our A-boards and destroy them."

Café culture

Traders said that if the council took away their furniture and A-boards, their businesses would suffer.

Darren Ross, who runs Darren Ross Jewellers in the High Street, said: "The thing about Shoreham is that people can come here, sit outside, drink a cup of coffee and eat some lunch.

"If you start taking that away, you are not going to have any custom."

Complaints

A spokesman for West Sussex County Council said: "There have been complaints from individual residents and mobility groups – and the letter does also serve as a reminder to traders that they might be held liable in the event of an injury accident involving an A-board, and that could well have serious implications for a business.

"It is also intended to remind traders who want to put out tables and chairs of the need to ensure that they have a licence for these."

Adur District Council leader Neil Parkin said: "Adur councillors and officers are working with county council officers and councillors to develop a pilot project which will introduce licences for street furniture, where it is appropriate."

For the full story see this week's Shoreham Herald (November 27).

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