11:10am Sunday 28th February 2010
By Paul Holden
A council leader has stepped into a row over the banning of alfresco tables and chairs at a town centre cafe.
Councillor Paul Yallop, the leader of Worthing Borough Council, said he wanted the “mess” sorted out.
He was dismayed that the ban was imposed on the Cafe Continental in Montague Place, Worthing, by unelected officers without councillors being consulted.
Coun Yallop said the blame for the row was being passed between the borough council and West Sussex County Council, which controls highways.
Worthing Access and Mobility Group, which represents disabled and blind people in the town, also hit out at the ban, which was imposed because the tables and chairs were deemed a “highway hazard”.
It said none of its members had a problem with the cafe.
The row erupted after the cafe was refused planning permission for alfresco tables and chairs despite having put them outside for 14 years without a problem.
Mr and Mrs Jones were told they could only site them under the cafe canopy, restricting numbers, despite the fact that Montague Place was regarded as the centre of Worthing's cafe culture.
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