OWNERS of a south Wirral auto shop say they may be forced to cut staff or even close down if they are made to remove “unauthorised signage” they feel is vital for business.

Hawkes and Wright Ltd, in Neston, have been told they must remove the 8ft by 10ft signs placed on the gable end of the unit on Clayhill Industrial Estate.

It comes after Cheshire West and Chester Council (CWAC) received a complaint about the signs and, after an investigation, the authority concluded that consent was needed.

An application was submitted but later refused by CWAC, meaning the signs must be removed or face legal action from the council.

But Lee Wright, who runs the business with Philip Hawkes, said he will not be removing the signs, describing them as vital for the business to succeed.

He said: “It’s absolutely pathetic. The other businesses on the estate have signs the same size, if not bigger, than we do.

“Staff will lose their jobs. We are a small business and rely on passing trade. If we take down the signs, people won’t know we’re here and if we lose four cars a week because they are driving past us, it will ruin us.”

It comes just months after the business saw £25,000 worth of tools and paint equipment stolen.

Burglars forced their way into the premises in January, smashing down the front door and stealing irreplaceable stock built up over the years.

Lee believes the break-in may have been carried out by someone with a vendetta against the firm, and believes this latest blow to the business could be down to the same person.

“Someone complained to the council about the signs, I think it’s someone who has a grudge against us.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous what the council is doing. They won’t even arrange to come down for a site visit. They’ve just said we have to take the signs down but it’s not the council’s building, it’s our building – we’ve got a 15 year lease.”

Lee added: “We pay nearly £1,000 a month in rates to the council but we don’t get anything from them – they don’t empty the bins, they don’t clean the streets, there’s no street lighting – it’s ridiculous.

“If you go along the M53 there’s a huge big sign for the outlet village which I think can easily cause accidents when people are looking what shops are there. Why are they allowed to put that up but we can’t?

“We’re not on a main road, we’re not distracting anyone.

“I’m not taking them down. I’ll take them to court before I take them down.”

Alison Knight, head of places strategy for Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “Many signs require consent to be displayed. The Council can take legal action to have unauthorised signage removed.

“In this case, we received a complaint back in July about this signage and after an investigation we concluded that consent was needed.

“An application to keep the signage was then submitted, but was refused as it was felt that the impact was too great.

“Officers then requested that the signage be removed. “