The owners of a pizzeria are making a bid to keep a colourful mural painted on their shop front after saying council chiefs told them to remove it.
There was public outrage in February after Bangin’ Pizza told how West Dunbartonshire Council ordered them to paint over the commissioned artwork.
It came after a complaint by a member of the public prompted an investigation which found they needed planning permission.
It was a blow to owners Stephen Kirkwood and Steven Galloni, who said they “spent a fortune” on the artwork, which was spray-painted by a Glasgow artist.
However, Stephen has told how they are now preparing to put in for retrospective permission in a hopeful move to keep it.
He said: “We still have the artwork up and haven’t needed to paint over it yet, which is great.
“The amount of support we had from the public was amazing and we’re hoping they will let us keep it.”
At the time, Steven said: “We never thought we would have to apply for permission due to the fact they’re our shutters, and that other shops within 100 metres of us have the exact same, cool-looking spray paint on their shutters and walls.
“It really is a massive disappointment for the whole Bangin’ team – we’re gutted.
“Not only are we investing a lot of money into the shop and the local area, but we also spent a fortune getting this artwork done by an amazing Scottish artist.”
As well as applying for permission for the mural, the friends are also going to ask the council for permission for an outside seating area and alcohol licence.
Stephen added: “There’s a really good vibe in this part of town now and we think a seating area would be great for the summer nights.
“If anything, the publicity we had from the mural has really helped boost our profile and we’ve been really busy.
“We bought a new oven which has doubled our capacity and we’re also trialling freshly baked sourdough bread which has been really popular.
“We also have plans to expand with Italian sandwiches, ice cream and coffee and open at lunch times.
“And we’ve created more jobs so there’s seven staff now, including my mum and my sister.
“If it ends up that we need to paint over the mural it will be a shame, but we have plenty of other things going on to be excited about.”
Councillors have come out in support for the entrepreneurs, with Labour’s David McBride calling on planners to reconsider their decision.
Council leader Jonathan McColl also contacted officers and said he hoped the issue would be “resolved”.
