A RESTAURANT was forced to take down its Christmas lights by “Scrooge” council officials.
The owners of La Barbacoa, in Waterloo, had to remove fairy lights from a tree outside its premises because Sefton council said it was an “offence” to put them up.
Gordon Tartt, co-owner of the Mersey View venue, put up the lights because members of the public kept asking him to decorate the tree, which is on the pavement. The blue fairy lights were up for three weeks before he got a letter from the council telling him to take them down.
Mr Tartt said: “For years, our customers have been saying that we should put lights up that tree. Then, the year we do, we receive a letter telling us to take them down.
“The letter arrived just in time for Christmas.
“It is just ‘bah humbug’. It is one set of lights.
“The cables were way out of reach and we put them up just to brighten up the area.”
Sefton Council said it ordered the lights to be removed because of concerns that someone could be injured or electrocuted.
