A RESTAURANT boss has compared Morecambe to Stalinist Russia after Jobsworth' council chiefs threatened to take her to courtover FOUR tables.

Violet Milne has run the famous Hart's Restaurant on the promenade for about a year and had big plans for the future of the eaterie.

Those plans included placing tables and chairs on the wide pavement in front of the windows for alfresco dining with a sea view.

The tables were a big hit with Mrs Milne's customers - but she has been forced to take them in after threats of legal action left her stunned.

"It's a complete nonsense," Mrs Milne told the Citizen. "I am trying to do my best to make Morecambe a better place but the council seem to be doing their best to stop me.

"They are worse than something from Stalinist Russia. They say my tables were blocking the pavement but it's very wide outside the restaurant. And if people look down the prom they will see loads of tat that looks scruffy and sticks out more than my tables did. It is crazy."

She goes on: "The view out over the Bay is just about the only thing Morecambe has got going for it now. On a nice sunny day it is beautiful out there and I am just trying to do my best. I would expect the council to back me."

Mrs Milne received a letter from the Lancashire highways partnership, a collaboration between the county and city councils, saying the chairs and tables were placed outside without the consent of the Highway Authority and that is against the Highways Act.

Says Mrs Milne. "Maybe I should have asked for consent but it's just four tables and not the end of the world. These people are jobsworths."

A council spokesman told the Citizen: "The city council received a complaint that the footway outside Hart's Restaurant in Morecambe was obstructed by tables and chairs. The establishment does not have a street caf licence and was approached to remove the obstruction."