Traders claim victory over boards

Nottingham traders are celebrating after winning their fight to keep some advertising boards in the city.

Businesses had campaigned against a council plan to ban the A-boards from the streets in the city centre.

The city council said the boards can cause access problems for wheelchair users and make street cleaning hard.

The authority has now agreed to work with traders to draw up sensible guidelines on how large the boards can be and where they can be placed.

It is a great turnaround really. We were expecting more of a fight on our hands Jasmin Barlow-Wilkinson, cafe owner

Some shopkeepers had said they feared they would lose business if the boards were removed completely.

Jasmin Barlow-Wilkinson, the owner of the Homemade cafe on Pelham Street, said: "It is a great turnaround really. We were expecting more of a fight on our hands.

"We agreed to move forward and work together to reach a compromise."

Stephen Barker from the city council said: "We all accept that there are some of these boards which are a problem but we understand that there are some that are no problem at all.

"Coming up with some guidelines, so everyone understands what's ok and what's in the way is the best way forward."