A Fife business owner has been forced to remove advertising signs in place for more than a decade after the council received a single complaint.
Jim Parker, who runs Fife Properties, was approached by council planning enforcement officers at his Mitchell Street office in Leven last November.
He was told that a rival estate agent had made a complaint about the three signs on the walls of his property and that they would have to be removed.
Mr Parker subsequently applied for retrospective planning permission for the advertising placards but was rejected as they were allegedly a distraction to traffic.
He claims he has been unfairly targeted as there are dozens of other illegal signs in the area against which the council are not taking enforcement action.
Fife Council denies Mr Parker has been treated differently and said it investigates all unauthorised signage brought to its attention.
Mr Parker said: “Last November, Fife Council planning enforcement officers stormed into our offices in Leven and said we’d need to take our signs down or they would be taking them down.
“They said I didn’t have the authority to have them up even though they are my signs and my walls. They’ve been up there for more than a decade without any problems.
“Another local property agent complained to the council about these signs and that’s when the council decided to take action.
“They’ve said the signs are a distraction to the traffic coming into the roundabout and that they’re a bit unsightly.
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“But there are other business nearby who have massive billboards outside at the front of their properties? Some of them even have illuminated signs.
“Is this Animal Farm where there’s one rule for some and one rule for the others?
“I applied for retrospective planning permission but the council knocked it back. I appealed the decision but they knocked it back too. I’m dumbfounded by the whole thing.”
Labour councillor Colin Davidson for Leven, Kennoway and Largo, has backed Mr Parker and said: “In this case there seem to be glaring inconsistencies across the Levenmouth area with regard to signs.
“There seems to be a particular desire to have these particular signs taken down.
“To me, it’s nonsense to say it’s a distraction to traffic and it’s regrettable that they have not applied common sense to a sign that has been up for more than a decade.”
Derek Simpson, lead officer at Fife Council’s Development Management, said: “Following a complaint from a member of the public, we undertook an investigation into the signage, which confirmed that signage had been erected without advertisement consent.
“Following the refusal of a retrospective application, and an unsuccessful appeal against an enforcement notice, the unauthorised signs were removed.
“Mr Parker has not been treated any differently to any other member of the public that is subject to an enforcement investigation or formal enforcement action.
“We investigate all cases of alleged unauthorised signage brought to our attention, in line with our enforcement charter.”
