Council orders cafe owner to take down 'dangerous' balloons

A council was accused of being “bang out of order” by a café owner after an official told him to remove two balloons from outside his shop over health and safety fears. Danny Philpott tied them to a signpost to advertise a coffee morning to raise money for a cancer charity. But a council highways official ordered him to take them down because they could be a hazard to motorists. The official explained that the balloons could obscure a “loading only” sign, which could lead to “dangerous or illegal parking”.

Mr Philpott, 50, who runs the Italian Job cafe in Paignton, Devon, called the ruling ”totally barmy”, and put up even more balloons. He said: ”A council officer came in and started complaining about the balloons. I thought he was joking at first.

”He said the signpost was council property and no one had authorisation to put balloons on it and I should remove them. He quoted some highway bylaw. I was incensed and refused to do so. I said, 'You can come back and arrest me but they are not going to be moved'. They were just normal-sized green balloons. There were only two but I added two more as he was winding me up. All my staff and customers are very angry about this.”



A waitress at the cafe, Sandy Abbott, said: ”I think it is overkill. The balloons were not causing damage, they were just helping to promote a cancer charity.”

A spokesman for the Liberal Democrat-run council defended the highways officer and said it was safety issue. ”The officer is from the council’s highways team whose responsibilities include enforcing highways legislation and offering advice on issues such as pavement cafes and highway obstruction.

”The officer advised the owners of the premises that unfortunately the balloons were covering the parking restriction signs for the highway and they would therefore need to be removed. The officer was concerned that a car might park dangerously or a motorist could get a parking ticket if they were unable to see the sign. Council officers will use their discretion on matters such as this, but will always take into account pedestrian and motorist safety.”