Funfairs face 'staggering losses' over signage row

Funfairs and circuses say they face "staggering" losses after a council took down their advertising signs.

Owners of Inflatable Theme Park UK and Edward Stokes Funfairs said they had seen a huge drop in trade after South Gloucestershire Council removed their event signs in May – an issue they said they had never previously had.

There are specific laws in place allowing travelling businesses like theirs to advertise and the operators said they had freely put up signs in other council areas without issue.

South Gloucestershire Council said it had "handled a number of cases where adverts for travelling fairs were placed on roadside furniture without permission".

The council said there was "nothing to prevent advertising of this nature on private land in the district" and the law was "not a general permission to place adverts on any location regardless of consent".

The spokesperson also denied there had been a change in approach from the council, with the existing policy in place since 2009.

Angus Pedrick, 39, from Stroud, who has run Inflatable Theme Park UK for more than 20 years, said: "By removing our signs they've removed our ability to trade."

During an event in May, he said he had seen around a 50% drop in trade.

Under laws set out in the Town and Country Planning Regulations, travelling businesses have to meet specific terms in order to advertise, including limits on how long the signs can be up for and how they must notify the local planning authority – rules Pedrick said they had always followed.

He said if the issue was not resolved he felt his business - and others like it - may not be able to continue.

Pedrick said: "They're going to completely destroy fairs and circuses.

"They've made it completely unviable for us to continue what we're doing."

Sixth-generation showman Edward Stokes, 49, from Bristol, runs Edward Stokes Funfairs.

He said he saw a drop in trade of up to 80% at his latest event in Mangotsfield, after the council took down his signs and sent him a warning letter.

In it, he said the council threatened a fixed penalty notice or enforcement action if any further signs were placed.

"We're only trying to do what we've always done, to say it had an impact is a bit of an understatement."

He said he had joined with Pedrick and other travelling fairs to urge South Gloucestershire Council to agree to a meeting, but had been met with silence.

"All we're asking for at the moment is to be allowed just to get around the table and talk about it."

Stokes also said agreed restrictions on signage were "not a problem" and could be met, but without guidance from the council they were unable to advertise.

Both Pedrick and Stokes said they had used social media to try and advertise their events, but these were often unseen due to changing algorithms.

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