Market Harborough tanning salon ordered to remove 'offensive' images of woman in bikini

A tanning salon has been ordered to remove its 'offensive' window display featuring a woman in a bikini.

The owner of Malibu Tanning Lounge in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, has been in a dispute with Harborough District Council for 18 months, over the large vinyl image of a woman in a bikini.

Planning officials have now ordered the image to be removed.

Jim Cole, 29, owner of Malibu Tanning Lounge, in Coventry Road, spent £700 creating the shop front when he opened the business in October 2021.

Harborough District Council has claimed the images in the display that feature a bikini-clad woman and a man in tight boxer shorts were not "in keeping" with the image of the market town and needed to be taken down.

Mr Cole filed an appeal in January, but a planning inspector agreed with the council's decision after visiting the town last month.

The inspector dismissed Mr Cole's appeal in a report, saying the images cause "detriment" to the character of the surrounding area.

The images were deemed "too overwhelming to the modest shopfront".

"I found that the window graphics, because of their size and siting on all panes of the bay, are highly visible in a prominent location on one of the principal approaches into the square and broadly opposite the entrance to the Commons public car park. They would therefore detrimentally affect the character and appearance of the conservation area, equating to harm to the amenity of the area."

Mr Cole previously said that he spent £700 on installing the vinyl shop display to brighten up the street, as well as to protect the privacy of customers.

He added that it will cost him several thousands more to have the shop front removed and replaced.

"All because of two people, just two, who I'm told complained to the council - saying that a picture of a sunbathing woman was somehow offensive. I can't see how anyone wandering around the town centre would think that, it's the kind of thing you'd see on the cover of any holiday brochure."

The salon will be forced to remove the images following the decision from the planning inspector or face further consequences.

An appeal to the High Court can be made by the salon's owner if they can argue the decision on a point of law.