By James HoreTHE man behind five fluorescent palm trees outside his Chinese restaurant has refused to back down after being told the creations were set for the chop.

By James Hore

THE man behind five fluorescent palm trees outside his Chinese restaurant has refused to back down after being told the creations were set for the chop.

They have been an eye-catching feature outside the Palm Trees restaurant in Blake End, near Braintree, since February.

The red, green, yellow and orange trees stand between four and five metres tall, but not everyone was pleased with the illuminated look and Braintree District Council told the manager, King Yik, that the trees had to go.

Mr Yik was told planning permission had not been granted because the proposal was not related to agriculture or rural development.

The council also claimed the trees were “causing distraction to drivers” and were a potential hazard.

But now Mr Yik, who previously ran restaurants in London, has appealed against the decision to refuse planning permission.

If his appeal is unsuccessful the trees, which he originally put up before realising planning permission was needed, will have to come down.

Mr Yik said the amount of passing traffic passing had “severely reduced” since the opening of the new A120 road.

“Palms Restaurant is positioned in a commercial stretch of the old A120 and sits next to a scrapyard and petrol filling station, in the latter of which has an extremely vibrant roadside display in order to attract its customers,” he added.

“The amount of traffic now using the old A120 has been severely reduced with the opening of the A120.”

Mr Yik continued: “The reaction of our customers since the trees have been up has been both encouraging and positive.

“Since the erection of the trees our business has started to show signs of becoming a commercially-viable proposition and, as such, these features definitively provide an important aid to the development of our young business and, hopefully, continued success.”

james.hore@eadt.co.uk