Café’s hanging baskets ruled a ‘hazard’

A café owner has been told to remove her hanging baskets because they pose a hazard – despite them having been there for more than a decade.

The baskets hang around 6ft off the ground at either side of the entrance to The Pantry café, Cromarty, in the Scottish Highlands.

Highland Council officials say they are a danger and want them raised or removed. Owner Jean Henderson, who faces a £1,000 fine, said: “The whole thing is laughable.”

A council spokesman said the baskets were too low and forced pedestrians to walk around them or duck.

Last year, the council backed down after threatening Inverness butcher Duncan Fraser and Son with a £2,500 fine saying a jolly butcher figure, which had stood outside the shop for more than 30 years, was unauthorised and should be removed.