Florence Pugh's father to 'take on' Oxford council in court

Clinton Pugh, the owner of restaurants Café Coco and Kazbar, previously put up an anti-low traffic neighbourhood banner which criticised the city council for censorship and made a reference to George Orwell’s book 1984.

After putting a range of critical advertisements up, Mr Pugh received a letter in the post from the council which demanded he removed the banner unless he wanted to pay a £2500 fine for not seeking “advertisement consent”.

READ MORE: Florence Pugh's father loses bar and blames LTNs for 'stress'

Father of Florence Pugh Clinton Pugh (Image: Ed Nix)

Mr Pugh remains determined to keep his advertisements up and after making an appearance on Talk TV, in which he attacked the city council, he found that another letter from the council threatening the banner's removal had been sent through his door.

Mr Pugh said the letter was a “deliberate retaliation” by the council and he committed to fighting the removal of the banner in court.

He said: “They are trying to silence me again.

“Can they not be questioned about their failings?

“If they insist on taking me to court, then I will not hesitate in going to court.”

READ MORE: Florence Pugh's father takes down anti-LTN Orwell banner

Mr Pugh said the council was trying to bully him and acting undemocratically.

In April, Mr Pugh replaced the anti-LTN sign with a picture of Toby Sebastian (his son) and details about the music artist's concert at the O2 Academy.

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The banner currently shows a picture of Clinton Pugh's son Toby Sebastian (Image: Contributed)

Mr Pugh’s daughter, Ms Pugh, is an Oscar nominated Hollywood actor and she has featured in the Harry Styles film ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ and starred alongside Morgan Freeman in the new release ‘A Good Person’.

Mr Pugh has highlighted that in the past he has put up banners outside his restaurant which have advertised his food and praised NHS staff and no order to remove these was ever issued by the council.

Speaking to Talk TV, Mr Pugh said: “I’ve lost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

“Many businesses have already closed down and it is only going to go one way.”

Recently, Mr Pugh revealed to the Oxford Times that Café Tarifa had been re-possessed while he was in the process of trying to sell the bar.

Due to “extra stress” and “staffing issues”, the restaurateur has also decided to put Café Coco up for sale on the market.

READ MORE: Oxford LTNs criticised by Florence Pugh dad and bar owner

He told the Oxford Mail that recruiting staff had become a major issue, as staff were complaining that journeys to and from work were taking four times as long.

The council said Mr Pugh’s anti-LTN banner had been on display since November 2022 and highlighted they first wrote to him about removing the advertisement on January 13.

The council has also suggested that it has been very supportive of Mr Pugh’s businesses.

A council spokesman said: “Mr Pugh’s businesses, Café Coco and Kazbar, have benefited from the LTN-type closure of Dawson Street for many years, following his successful application to close it, enabling him to put out chairs and tables.

“The city council also extended the pedestrianisation of Dawson Street in 2020 to support Café Coco and Kazbar.”

The council has said it acted to inform Mr Pugh he was required to remove the anti-LTN sign after a member of the public complained.

The council spokesman added: “Such an advertisement requires planning consent from the local authority.

“No consent has been sought for any advertisements on the side of this building.

“Nor does the advertisement qualify for deemed consent, a condition that applies to certain types of advertisement that do not require consent from the council.

“Unauthorised display is an offence for which, on summary conviction, he could receive a fine of up to £2,500 and if the advertisement continues to be displayed after conviction, to a fine not exceeding £250 for each day during which the advertisement continues to be displayed.”