[tr]Council u-turn on gnome ban[/td][/tr][/table]A council has backtracked after ordering a tenant to remove two garden gnomes from outside her front door on health and safety grounds.
Linda Langford, 57, was told her two six-inch garden gnomes must be removed in case people tripped over them, reports the Daily Express.
But Sandwell council has now admitted the letter was based on a misunderstanding of its fire safety rules and should not have been sent.
So Mrs Langford is now free to keep her gnomes - and also a pottery tortoise and a welcome plaque - outside her flat in Tipton, West Midlands.
She said: "It's barmy. The idea that my two little gnomes are a fire hazard or that they are dangerous in any way is absolutely ridiculous."
The council had claimed the ornaments were illegally blocking a communal area in Mrs Langford's two-storey block of flats, and that people could trip over them when escaping a fire.
Mahboob Husaain, the borough's cabinet member for housing, said that it had "slightly misinterpreted the policy on items in communal areas" and that garden gnomes were not prohibited.
"Our policy is that as long as there is not an excessive number of gnomes or similar items in communal areas, and as long as there isn't a problem with these items being damaged through anti-social behaviour, they can stay," he added.
from here
Linda Langford, 57, was told her two six-inch garden gnomes must be removed in case people tripped over them, reports the Daily Express.
But Sandwell council has now admitted the letter was based on a misunderstanding of its fire safety rules and should not have been sent.
So Mrs Langford is now free to keep her gnomes - and also a pottery tortoise and a welcome plaque - outside her flat in Tipton, West Midlands.
She said: "It's barmy. The idea that my two little gnomes are a fire hazard or that they are dangerous in any way is absolutely ridiculous."
The council had claimed the ornaments were illegally blocking a communal area in Mrs Langford's two-storey block of flats, and that people could trip over them when escaping a fire.
Mahboob Husaain, the borough's cabinet member for housing, said that it had "slightly misinterpreted the policy on items in communal areas" and that garden gnomes were not prohibited.
"Our policy is that as long as there is not an excessive number of gnomes or similar items in communal areas, and as long as there isn't a problem with these items being damaged through anti-social behaviour, they can stay," he added.
from here
