TRADERS are furious after council officers confiscated their advertising boards as part of a crackdown across the town.

Southend Council is introducing a new licensing system for advertising boards, which means businesses must pay a £200 administration fee and then £100 a year for the licence.

Boards which are considered a risk to public safety are being seized as part of the tightening up of the rules, before the licensing system is introduced on April 1.

Traders have said the move is ridiculous in the middle of an economic crisis.

Sym Craven, 49, runs the Friendly Wasp tattoo studio in Market Place, Southend. He said both his boards have been confiscated by the council.

He said: “It just came and took the boards and loaded them into a van.

“The council said they are unsightly, but what would it rather have, boards or empty shops?

“Where we are, we need that board because we are out of the way. It has told me I will have to pay £200 and £100 for each board. They are really taking the Mickey.

“It says they are dangerous for blind people, but are they less dangerous if we pay for them?”

The licence, which will also apply to tables and chairs on the pavement, states all boards must be in front of the shop’s premises as near to it as possible.

Only one sign is allowed per shop and cannot be bigger than 0.6msq, with a maximum base width of 1m.

James Harvey, 24, runs Cafe Culture at Southend bus station which opened in June last year. His board was recently taken from opposite Costa Coffee in Alexandra Street after a warning letter.

He said: “I’m really furious with the council’s attitude. It is just doing it to earn money.

“It’s another nail in the coffin of small businesses. Business is dire at the moment.

“We all sympathise with the issue of blind peoples’ dogs which is why we attached the sign to the railings.”

The council said it is implementing the policy to prevent boards from obstructing pedestrians, especially the partially-sighted who have been known to trip over them.

Council officers have said they will only remove boards after first warning the business.

Ian Robertson, the councillor responsible for the environment, said: “I’m dedicated to making this a more attractive and safer place for people to live.

“In the last couple of years boards have been springing up like weeds on a sunny spring day.

“We want to control how nice they look, how safe they are and where they are. We’re not against people having them, but they need to apply for a licence.

“We want them placed securely and out of the way, not in the middle of the pavement where people will fall over them.

“It’s £100 a year. If it’s so important for people’s businesses it’s not a great deal to pay for a licence fee.”