A RESTAURANT in Overton that put up a bright yellow, illuminated sign without planning permission should tone it down - or take it down, says a leading borough councillor.

The Honey Pot Restaurant, in Winchester Street, put up the sign featuring a teddy bear - and then applied for retrospective planning permission from Basingstoke council.

At meeting of the council's development control committee, Cllr Paula Baker said: "Every other sign in the village is quite tastefully done. But this one sticks out because it is a terrible yellow. I don't know what we can do about it. We can only hope that it will fade in the sunlight."

Cllr John Clegg said: "It is a garish yellow. It is obtrusive. It's the colour of sick.

"I am against granting planning permission for it. I think we should defer a decision on it for further discussions with the applicants - with the message that if they don't tone it down, we will probably refuse it."

Cllr Warwick Lovegrove added: "If every other shop and pub in the town did this it would change the character of the village. Why should we allow this one?"

Cllr Clegg said that even if the restaurant toned down the yellow of the sign, there should still be a condition that the three lights shining on it from above should only be lit when the restaurant was open.

The committee voted to defer a decision on the sign for further discussions with the applicants.