London mural with Union flag declared inappropriate

A London shop selling the best fish and chips has been ordered by council officials to remove a Union flag mural.

The owner of the award-winning fish and chip shop, located in Greenwich, south-east London, was asked to remove a newly painted mural featuring the Union Jack.

In Greenwich, south-east London, the Golden Chippy, renowned for its award-winning fish and chips, has been directed by council authorities to remove a newly painted Union flag mural from its wall.

The mural, costing £250, showed the flag held by a humanised fish alongside the slogan "A Great British Meal."

The council argued that the mural with a slogan "A Great British Meal" was inappropriate for the area which is a conservation area. “Our Planning Enforcement team is investigating this as it is effectively an unauthorised advert for the chip shop. The owner has agreed to paint over it," the Greenwich council official said.

“We will always try to negotiate with the owner before proceeding to a formal planning enforcement notice.”

However, the shop owner, Chris Kanizi, said that the mural attracted a lot of customers and there were no complaints. He also said that both local and international patrons, who often captured selfies with it. “I’m going to stick it out for as long as I can,” he said. “They haven’t given me a date to paint over it yet, but they will.”

“I’ve got so many international customers. They all like taking photos with the mural in the background.”

This is not the first time the shop owner clashed with the council over signage. In 2016, he was forced to remove a large sign after a two-year battle. The council however stressed that they received complaints and are treating the mural as an unauthorised advertisement.

The 65-year-old shopowner originally wanted to be a doctor but ended up running the Golden Chippy for 20 years. He plans to fight the council's decision for as long as he can.