Councillors are in uproar this morning after eight banners promoting a huge First World War event in Colne have been taken down.
Colne Commemorates is set to take place on August 2nd, and members of Colne Town Council have been working tirelessly to ensure the event is as successful as possible.
It is said the banners, which were located on pedestrian railings around the town, have been taken down by Lancashire County Council due to “health and safety”.
And councillors are now being questioned over whether the event has been cancelled.
Coun. Sarah Cockburn-Price said: “I am furious. We are not cancelled - this is a real problem.
“I would totally agree with this if it was advertising a business, but this is for the community. It has taken us forever to do the banners, and we would have taken them down straight after the event, so we are only talking a week.”
Leader of Pendle Council Coun. Joe Cooney added: “The county council have taken it upon themselves to take the banners down, and they say it is because of health and safety - have you ever heard anything so stupid?
“We put the Christmas banners up on the same railings, and they never touched them. They were up for three to four weeks.
“There has been a lot of work gone in to pulling this event together and it is to remember the First World War - it’s just completely insensitive. What they should do is put them all back up. Everybody is angry and annoyed.”
And Coun. Dorothy Lord said: “We are disappointed. The event is still on, and it has not been cancelled.
“We do feel that somebody could have contacted us or advised us, but we will relocate them elsewhere tomorrow.”
It is believed the banners will be dropped back off with councillors by the end of the day, but now Coun. Cockburn- Price is appealing for ideas of where they can be placed in Colne.
Responding Oliver Starkey, Lancashire County Council’s highways manager for Pendle, said: “Guard rails are supposed to be see-through so drivers have a clear view of pedestrians and oncoming traffic.
“We have a duty to ensure road safety and remove any signs that have been attached to railings, street lights and traffic lights without our approval.”
For more information on Colne Commemorates see the Colne Times today.
