Seahouses butcher back in business after falling foul of planners

The Rolling Pig in Seahouses fell foul of planners after rotten wooden window frames were replaced with uPVC without permission.

Edward Campbell, who runs the business with his wife, Danielle, was forced to close after being unable to meet Northumberland County Council’s timeframe for the single glazed wooden frames to be restored.

He had feared it would have a disastrous impact on the business at one of the busiest times of the year in the holiday hotspot.

However, further discussions with the council have now allowed the shop to reopen.

Now, all that is needed is a joiner to do the work.

Edward explained: “Back when we initially purchased the shop, we took some wrong advice from our solicitors who stated that we could change the rotten windows in place to PVC without any planning permission, which we then found out was incorrect after completing the work.

“Despite our best efforts and appeals to be allowed to keep the current windows, we have unfortunately been refused and they must now be changed.

"We fully accept this decision and have agreed that we will replace them back to how they used to be.

“Our current issue is that we have not been able to get a joiner to get the work carried out.”

He has already approached several joiners but they have other commitments.

“We are more than willing to reinstate the windows as they have requested,” added Edward. “It was merely the timeframe that let us down.”

A council spokesperson said: “The business can continue to operate and we are working with them to ensure the unauthorised work is regularised.”