A VILLAGE store owner has vowed to keep an advertising poster in his shop window, despite the threat of prosecution by his district council.

Mr Dave Greenland, who owns the Spar corner shop in Gainford, said he had already met planning officers halfway in a row over advertising outside his premises.

He has taken down a large banner around the front of the building, but Teesdale District Council insists advertising on a store room window requires permission or must be removed.

At a meeting of the district council's development control committee on Wednesday, councillors agreed to support a recommendation that enforcement action should be taken against Mr Greenland.

Mr Greenland told the D&S Times yesterday that many other businesses in the area used such advertising and that he felt he had been singled out.

He said: "I have compromised by taking down one sign and I think the other sign is perfectly suitable; it's just a sticker on the window.

"My shop is not the only business in the village that has advertising outside and half the pubs in villages around the area have advertising banners outside. What's good for them should be good for me."

Mr Trevor Watson, senior planning officer at Teesdale District Council, said the committee's decision had been made with the knowledge that the large banner had been removed.

He said: "In my view, Mr Greenland still needs advertising consent for the signs in the window. Unless he applies for and receives that permission soon, or removes the signs, the council will prosecute."

Mr Greenland was critical of the parish and district councils, saying there was a lack of support for businesses which were suffering from the knock-on effects of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

He said: "It's about time the parish and district councils actually supported local businesses.

"We've all lost a lot of money this year and we are all struggling to survive. If the winter is as bad as the summer has been, this shop may not be here next year.

"When I took over the shop 13 years ago it was closed, but we have expanded four times since then. In all that time I have never had any support whatsoever from any of the councils."

He added that he was determined to keep the signs regardless of the district council's threat of enforcement action.