VILLAGERS desperate to save their local pub from permanent closure say they are “angry and frustrated” after Herefordshire Council threatened to prosecute them for putting up protest signs in their own gardens.

Little Birch residents were given two days to remove the signs after receiving a letter explaining they were liable to action under the Town and Country Planning Act.

Locals concerned at last month’s closure of The Castle Inn have been lobbying councillors over the loss of the focal point of community life.

They were furious when planning staff said the banners contravened advertising laws and would have to come down unless proper consent was secured at a cost of a £95 fee per sign.

“We are desperate to try to put our case forward before any decision is made,” Save the Castle Campaign (SCC) chair Elaine Godding said. “It’s very frustrating.”

The pub’s name was later removed to try to make the posters more acceptable, but residents received another letter to say this was not the case.

SCC committee member Herman Mittelholzer said it was possible the signs fell outside regulations as there was no commercial benefit attached to them.

“It really is a matter of interpretation,” he added.

A 500-signature petition previously went to Little Birch Parish Council in support of The Castle, while Liberal Democrat Parlia-mentary Candidate Sarah Carr also met residents and the owner to try to find a solution.

SCC publicity officer Christina McClean said: “This is a legitimate campaign with a rapidly growing groundswell of support, I therefore find the planning department’s approach to be incomprehensible.”

Council spokesman John Burnett said it understood residents wanted to air their views but that a “proliferation” of signs in Little Birch had led to a complaint which needed investigating.

“If villagers feel their pub is under threat, there are established avenues through which they can express their concerns. Herefordshire Council is happy to talk to them to give them advice on these matters,” he said.