BRIGHT graffiti has been replaced with blocks of blue and red at an East Oxford nightclub which got into trouble with city planners.

Clems in St Clement’s Street has been repainted after an agreement between its owners and Oxford City Council.

The nightclub drew attention to itself in August after bright pictures and words were sprayed across its front wall.

Now council officers have worked with the owner, Luis Carrera, and have agreed a new colour scheme which does not require planning permission or advertising consent.

The paintwork was completed on Friday, and St Clement’s councillor Graham Jones said he was pleased with the result.

He said: “The new scheme is a win-win. It picks up the classical lines of The Plain’s buildings, and does it in a colourful way.

“This is a victory for the people who live in the area and said ‘no’ to the garish scheme that was so at odds with the Conservation Area.

“If we get a neighbourhood plan for East Oxford I hope it will put conservation area rules ahead of advertising rules. If that had been so here it would have resolved the issue very quickly.

“We can now turn our attention to noise and disturbance caused by night club clientele.”

Head of city development Michael Crofton Briggs said council officers had worked with club bosses to find a solution which suited everyone.

He said: “Officers organised a lot of meetings with the owner to discuss the changes to the outside of the building.

“I am really pleased that our hard work has meant that the owner has shown us the colour scheme that he intends to use and that we have agreed it instead of tackling him through the enforcement process.”

Clems originally had the club’s name painted in large letters, but the council told the owner the words exceeded the maximum height and would need advertising consent.

The next design was cartoon characters and its website address which was not deemed to be in keeping within the surrounding area.

Mr Carrera said: “The advice I received was that there were no legal grounds for their objection, but I cannot afford to fight this in court. So the graffiti is gone.”