'Disproportionate and unhelpful': Bosses of Dudley's £4 million new leisure quarter hit out at 'intimidating' council officials
The bosses behind Dudley's £4 million entertainments quarter have accused council enforcement officers of intimidating their staff over alterations to a window.
The management of Fun City, which opened in the former Dudley Museum and Art Gallery building in September, accused Dudley Council of being heavy-handed following a visit last week.
Council officers were responding to the fitting of an external digital display screen on the Grade II-listed building on the corner of St James's Road and Stone Street.
The company said the screen had not been connected and was not illuminated at the time of the visit at about 3pm on Tuesday, November 18.
Fun City is an entertainments venue which includes a cocktail bar, laser tagging, indoor cricket and retro arcade games, as well as a Duncan Edwards-themed football room, karaoke booths, an escape room and indoor golf.
"A number of enforcement officers arrived together to inspect a small, unfinished, non-structural fitting being installed by contractors on one of the building’s external windows," said a spokeswoman for the company.
"Witnesses described the officers as firm and abrupt in their approach, taking photographs and interacting in a way that left Fun City staff feeling intimidated, despite the simplicity of the work taking place.
"Contractors were fitting a small, reversible bracket to hold a digital display screen on the outside of a window that had been boarded up for more than a decade. The screen had not been switched on, was not illuminated, and was not in public use."
