A SHOP owner has criticised Bolton Council for removing his homemade signs but allowing supermarket Lidl to advertise on a nearby roundabout.

Mike Jolly, who owns MJ Racing, Models and Hobbies in Hindley Road, Daisy Hill, said council officers have twice removed his advertising signs in the town as he is not entitled to them.

But Lidl’s controversial application to retain four signs on the busy Chequerbent roundabout was approved by the council’s planning committee on May 15.

The supermarket signs are council-owned and are available for businesses to use for a fee, with the council going through the planning process on the behalf of the business.

Council officers have previously removed Mr Jolly’s signs from outside Daisy Hill Community Centre and a lamppost in Lower Leigh Road.

Mr Jolly said: “It seems there is one rule for one and one for another.

“I had an A-board near the community centre on a grass verge and they just took it away.

“Someone for the council came by and said it was dangerous. He said I could have one right outside the shop, on a pavement where children and old people walk past, but not on a grass verge. It’s crazy.”


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Mr Jolly, aged 53, set up his model racing shop two years ago after he had started by selling products on ebay when his grandchildren renewed his interest in model racing.

He also asked the council for a directional sign on a lamppost, making people aware of his stall in Daisy Hill village, but was told he did not qualify as he was “a business”.

Mr Jolly said: “One minute they are telling me stuff is dangerous and the next they say to Lidl ‘it’s okay to put all those signs there’.

The Lidl signs have also been slammed at a meeting of Westhoughton Town Council for making the roundabout “too cluttered”.

Bolton Council refused to reveal how much the supermarket chain was paying for the signs.

A council spokesman said Lidl’s signs were advertising, and Mr Jolly’s were “directional” — something not allowed on lampposts.

The spokesman added: “We are happy to meet Mr Jolly to discuss promoting his business and the different options available such as roundabout signage.

“The signs for Lidl on the Chequerbent roundabout are advertising signs. Unfortunately, we don’t allow directional signage to individual businesses on lampposts, similar to many other local authorities.”