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Actress Florence Pugh’s father has been threatened with a £2,500 fine after putting up a sign opposing controversial traffic calming measures in Oxford.
Clinton Pugh, 64, says the so-called Low Traffic Neighborhood (LTN) policy is ruining businesses and livelihoods in the college town where he owns three restaurants.
He voiced his opposition to the project last November by putting up a huge sign on the side of his Cafe Coco restaurant, where Little Women star Florence, 27, once worked.
The sign described the removal of parking spaces and the closure of roads to cars by installing bollards to encourage people to walk and bike as “an ill-considered traffic experiment.”
Oxford City Council wrote to Clinton on January 13, stating that his sign was in breach of planning rules, having been erected without planning consent.
Florence Pugh’s father Clinton (pictured left) has criticized new traffic calming measures in Oxford, claiming the Low Traffic Neighborhood (LTN) policy is ruining businesses.
He was told he could face enforcement action as “publicity consent had not been sought” and risked a £2,500 fine if he did not withdraw it within 28 days before February 10.
But Clinton has defied the council chiefs by placing a new banner over her sign, emblazoned with the words, ‘Censored!’, ‘Enough Democracy!’ and ‘1984?’.
The businessman said that revenue at his restaurants – Café Coco, Kazbar and Café Tarifa – had plummeted due to a drop in customers since the scheme was introduced last May.
The three businesses are on Cowley Road, Oxford, which is in the center of the area targeted by Oxfordshire County Council’s anti-trafficking measures.
The LTNs have faced furious opposition since they were introduced in Oxford last year, with the bollards being torn up, run over and set on fire.
Wooden planters lining the streets have also been covered in graffiti and their plants uprooted in anger over the crackdown on trade and drivers having to take long detours.
Clinton insists she is not against ‘a greener, cleaner Oxford’, but says the measures have gone too far in cutting off vital commerce, leaving businesses fighting for their futures.
He said profits at Cafe Coco, which opened in 1992 and catered to members of Radiohead and Supergrass bands, fell 25 percent when road closures were introduced.
Clinton, 64, voiced her opposition to the project last November by putting up a huge sign on the side of her Cafe Coco restaurant, where Little Women star Florence, 27, once worked.
Oxford City Council wrote to Clinton on January 13, stating that his sign was in breach of planning rules, having been erected without planning consent.
Clinton insisted that her sign and banner were “simply telling the truth” about how the environmental initiative was strangling businesses that depend on passing motorists.
He said: ‘I’m almost 65 and I could do without this stress.
‘The impact of the road closures has meant that people just don’t come because they say it takes too long.
‘When all this happened I decided to put up a sign next to Cowley Road to let the general public know what was going on. All I’ve done is tell the truth.
“But now they demand that I remove it, so in response I put a strip at the bottom that says about the 1984 censorship because I think it’s disgusting.
‘I’m upset, I’m tired, I’m worried about my health. I told my friends and family during Covid that it feels like he is standing in front of a cliff waiting to be pushed off.
And that’s exactly how I still feel. They’re just going to destroy my 31 years of hard work.’
Clinton still posts photos of her Hollywood star daughter helping out at her restaurants when she gets home.
Clinton insists she is not against “a greener, cleaner Oxford” but says the measures have gone too far in cutting off vital commerce.
Pictured: Actresses Florence Pugh eating at Café Coco in Oxford, where she used to work.
His other three children, Game of Thrones actor Toby Sebastian, 31, actress and voice coach Arabella Gibbins, 37, and actress Rafaela Pugh, 19, also worked in his restaurants and went to school in the local area when they were children.
He now faces having to sell his businesses, one of which he spent £450,000 to build, and potentially making a loss, despite decades of hard work.
Clinton, who has had to put retirement plans on hold, had to borrow money to pay her 54 employees’ Christmas salaries.
It was also revealed in December that his famous daughter, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Little Women, had helped him financially for the past two years.
Florence Pugh’s siblings, Game of Thrones actor Toby Sebastian (pictured left), actress and voice coach Arabella Gibbins, and actress Rafaela Pugh, also worked at Clinton’s restaurants.
Clinton’s sign read: ‘Welcome to Cowley Road. Oxford’s most diverse and unique street, home to the largest group of independent businesses in the country.
“This is where Oxfordshire County Council decided to implement their ill-considered traffic experiment, undemocratically installing LTNs (road closures) and abolishing car parking in May 2022.
‘Surprise Surprise: In a survey, 95% of Cowley Road businesses said traffic and turnover had dropped significantly since LTNs were installed. They cannot survive without customers coming from other parts of the city and the country.
‘Next to come, the last nail in the coffin; bus gates and the complete segregation of Oxford, dividing Oxford into six zones with complete reliance on the ring road to get from A to B.
‘County Council pretends to listen, but this is shamefully a complete and utter lie.’
He added: ‘So much for democracy? Help us fight this arrogance.
Clinton insisted that he had a billboard on the spot where he erected his sign for the last 30 years without any hassle.
He added: ‘I have been fighting hard for the small independent businesses on Cowley Road.
The little ones who dare not say anything. They are the ones I’m trying to protect.
“I see that climate change is having an effect. But they are destroying people’s livelihoods and they need to reconsider.”
‘Yes, I had to borrow money from someone to help pay my staff salaries before Christmas.
Clinton said the council was ‘pretending to listen’ but this is ‘a complete and utter lie’
Oxford City Council said it took successful legal action against Clinton in 1995 over a different advertisement in the Café Coco venue.
“Cash flow has improved a bit since then, but it’s still extremely painful and I don’t know how long I’ll survive.”
Oxford City Council said: ‘Following a complaint from a member of the public, Oxford City Council wrote to Mr Pugh of Café Coco on 13 January this year about the unauthorized advertisement being displayed in the building.
‘Such an announcement requires the planning consent of the local authority. Consent has not been sought for any advertisements on the side of this building.
‘The ad also doesn’t qualify for presumed consent, a condition that applies to certain types of ads that don’t require council consent.
The council has warned the owner that he breached the urban controls.
‘Successful legal action was previously taken by the council in 1995 against Mr Pugh’s company following a complaint about an advertisement in Café Coco.’
Oxfordshire County Council added: ‘East Oxford LTNs have been introduced as a test.
“During the trial, we have received and continue to receive a large amount of feedback including concerns and recommendations from residents, business owners and visitors to the city.
‘While the East Oxford LTNs online consultation has now closed, we encourage people to continue to share their feedback with us.
“The comments and responses to queries will be taken into account when the council decides whether to proceed with the LTN area of East Oxford later this year.”