Independent optician outraged by threat to remove his A-board

Business owner says council ban is unreasonable

An optician with three decades of trading in Canterbury is incensed that city council chiefs want to remove rule-breaking A-boards.

David Grimes, 55, places his board in the gutter outside his St Peter’s Street shop but faces having it taken away because it is not on the pavement.

Last week the Gazette revealed that city councillors want their cleaning contractor Serco to collect A-boards which are not on pavements or where a business is using more than one.

But Mr Grimes insists that putting his in the gutter next to a bollard poses no problem to the people using the city centre.

He said: “We don’t have buses serving the bottom end of town anymore and we rely on the A-board being visible because it’s an important way of advertising our business.

“We’ve been here 30 years and one of the main unique selling points is that we do walk-in eye examinations and, as much of our clientele is elderly, we rely on A-boards to get the message across.

“The gutter seems to me the best place for it as it doesn’t prevent people walking on the pavement, which is quite narrow and certainly doesn’t interfere with the road, which is very wide.”

Earlier this month The Canterbury Society complained to a panel of city councillors that the central shopping streets are too cluttered with objects in the road, such as advertising boards and other street furniture.

Mr Grimes insists his use of an A-board is necessary so his business is not masked by others.

He added: “I didn’t have a board for many years but was forced into having one because directly next to me are three large restaurants complete with outside seating, tables, plant pots, large canopies and even bigger A-boards completely obscuring my business from the eye of a passerby walking down.

“Without the board being in view there would be no point having it.”

Lib Dem group leader Cllr Mike Dixey, who represents the city centre, says the situation is getting worse and is calling on businesses to abide by the voluntary code of one A-board per business placed on the pavement.

He said: “Let’s show some balls and take those away which are breaking the voluntary code.”

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How we reported the story in last week’s Kentish Gazette