A-board fee is scrapped

Unpopular plans to charge shops and other businesses in Wolverhampton hundreds of pounds to place A-boards on the street have been scrapped.

Council chiefs have dumped “barmy” plans for new fees.

They would have seen traders such as shops, cafes, butchers and hair salons pay £150 just to apply for permission to advertise on the footpath outside.

The fee, which would have applied to each A-board and be non-refundable, sparked uproar when first announced nine months ago, with critics saying the boards were part of the fabric of traditional High Streets.

The charges plan was drawn up amid concerns the boards were a hazard for blind and disabled people – despite the authority admitting it had no records of any complaints.

Councillor Barry Findlay, deputy leader of the Tory-Lib Dem alliance, said today it did not want to pile on the agony as the country heads towards a recession.

“We feel, particularly in the current economic climate, it is not fair to penalise businesses,” he said. “If we get complaints about a particular A-board we will look into each individual case, but there will be no blanket policy and we will treat each one on its merits.

“We need a common sense approach, not a ‘one size fits all’ policy because we know businesses are finding it hard at the moment as it is.”

Delighted Peter Price, of John Rennison’s butchers in Queen Street, had said the move was barmy: “ I’m very thankful. I thought the idea was disgusting.”

The Government granted local authorities permission to charge traders for placing A-boards on the streets from this year.

Businesses were told requests for permission were likely to be turned down despite the hefty application fee. Today it also emerged not one single business paid the fee to apply.