Liverpool Hooters fined over 'eyesore' signs in conservation area

Almost three years after they first went up outside the hotly debated venue on Water Street, Beauvoir Developments Ltd – the firm which brought the brand to the city – has been hit with a financial penalty for putting up large orange displays without the permission of the city council.

The firm, which went into administration in January, was sentenced in absentia at Sefton Magistrates Court for the failure to comply with requirements and regulation over the making, retaining or furnishing of documents on two occasions in 2023. After years of wrangling and ignoring the city council’s requests, Beauvoir will be forced to pay thousands of pounds for their failure to comply.

Following the business’ collapse into administration at the start of the year, a new firm – New Zealand Leisure Ltd – took over the city centre venue. The LDRS understands Liverpool Council is in discussion with the new proprietors to have the signs removed at long last.

The row first ignited in October 2022 just before the restaurant’s opening a month later. While the city’s licensing committee was happy to grant permission for the new venue to operate, the local authority’s planning body was not keen on two large neon orange signs to be placed outside New Zealand House.

As such, planning permission for those was rejected. However, this didn’t stop the business, who put the signs up anyway.

An appeal to retain the signs was also thrown out by the planning inspectorate. Officials said there was “no public benefit that could outweigh the harm identified” by the signage.

Further efforts were made to retain the brand iconography outside the business, with permission for slightly smaller signs, which were also knocked back by Liverpool Council in August 2023. The business was given 14 days to take the signs down or face prosecution.

This has now concluded in a court room, with magistrates fining Beauvoir Developments – and its director Rachel Tansey – £1,500 with a victim surcharge of £1,200. She was ordered to pay costs of £3,505.

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It is the second time this month Ms Tansey has found herself at the mercy of the legal system, after being handed a 12-month community hour with 130 hours of unpaid work following her inability to complete a roadside breath test as she had undergone cosmetic lip surgery. The 44-year-old mum-of-three was pulled over by the police on the Formby bypass after her Land Rover was seen travelling “all over the road” at 20mph in a 60mph zone.

Reacting to the court’s decision, Cllr Nick Small, City Centre North ward member and Liverpool Council cabinet member for growth and economy, said: “I’m delighted by the court’s decision in favour of the city council. These signs are an eyesore and have no place in a conservation area.

“They should be taken down immediately.”