A SEAFRONT ice cream parlour could be ordered to remove its sign within three months as the owner’s war with Southend Council continues.
Scoops 37, run by businessman John Remblance, has been locked in a row with the council over its light-up sign on Pier Hill since retrospective planning permission was refused earlier this year.
The business has lodged an appeal over the plans, but Southend Council is to consider approving enforcement action next week which would see Mr Remblance given a three-month deadline to take down the sign.
Mr Remblance has also had plans rejected for the sign on his arcade, Circus Circus Amusements, just two doors away from Scoops 37.
The council has deemed the sign to be “over-scaled” and “inappropriate” for the area.
Seafront trader Martin Richardson, who runs the Happidrome Arcade, has defended the business – calling the council’s move “pathetic and unbelievable”.
He said: “It is unbelievable – they are talking about the seafront. The seafront is about big lights, and they forget they don’t supply us with adequate lighting.
“Scoops are open until 10 and midnight, there is white light from the sign which makes it vibrant for people. Dark places are a danger, and it is pathetic the way they have gone about it.
“It is a dig at the seafront, we all try to make it look cheerier.
“We’ve done up the front of our parlour, kept tradition and we all know lights and flags attract attention, creating more vibrant places.
“Before they moved to that spot it was dingy and dull and very dark, it looked grim and Scoops’ sign is both proper and vibrant.”
The business opened in April 2023 replacing the gift shop Gaiety Bazaar after a £600,000 investment.
At the time the retrospective plans were refused, bosses believed they had been “penalised for doing something that they thought was for the good of Pier Hill and the city”.
The council’s report on the sign states: “Given the harm identified, it is reasonable, expedient and in the public interest to pursue enforcement action in the circumstances of this case.
“Enforcement action in this case will reasonably aim to secure the removal of the unauthorised shopfront and fascia in its entirety.”
The enforcement action will be debated at a meeting next Wednesday.
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