A PUB landlord is facing a bill for thousands of pounds after planners ordered him to remove decking from his beer garden, reports Andy Bloxham.

Kendal licensee Damian Savage, who runs the Masons' Arms, on Stramongate, was refused retrospective planning permission for a 1.8 metre-high (6ft) expanse of wooden decking in the pub's yard.

He now faces what he estimates is a £2,500 bill to remove the decking that cost him £5,500 to put up in the first place.

After South Lakeland District Council's planning committee ordered him to ditch the decking, he said: "I'm disgusted at the decision."

He said: "As a small businessman in Kendal, I can't really afford this amount of money with the increased competition from extra pubs that have come into town."

Asked if he should have checked with SLDC before putting up the decking, Mr Savage said he had sought advice from the internet, builders and joiners, and permission did not seem necessary.

He said the decking had actually made the beer garden safer for disabled customers than the "messed up" cobbles that, for the moment, were concealed by the wooden planks.

During the meeting, one resident of Blackhall Croft, a nearby block of retirement flats, complained about the increased noise the elevated beer garden generated.

Coun Gill Cranwell said the committee tended to find excuses to allow retrospective planning permission and added: "It should never have been there in the first place."

Councillors gave Mr Savage six months to remove it.

See News - Kendal for the full story.