Permission has been granted to keep art on the side of a Slaithwaite fish shop.

Bridge Fisheries in the Colne Valley village received the good news after being threatened with prosecution and fines for the graffiti art.

Fish fryer Mathew Tate, who owns the shop, paid for the colourful design to cover up graffiti ‘tags’ that vandals had spray-painted on the cream-coloured wall.

But officials with Kirklees Council said the new graffiti of a fish was classed as illegal advertising and that it must go.

Mathew, 36, then applied for retrospective planning permission with the help of his local councillor, Donna Bellamy.

A Kirklees Council spokesperson said: “Following initial advice from the council, the owner undertook steps to submit a retrospective application for the unauthorised advertisement.

“Advertisement Consent applications are only considered against two criteria; the first being highway safety and the second the impact upon amenity. The application was judged to be acceptable in both regards.

“As the application was approved the advertisement is now in accordance with Advertisement Regulations and the council consider the matter resolved.”

Mathew, who had also set up a petition, paid £138 for the application and survey drawings.

Donna, of Marsden, said: “It’s fantastic news to hear that Bridge Fisheries at Slaithwaite have now received consent for advertising and Boris the fish can stay.

“Mathew contacted me as soon as he was made aware that he had breached planning guidance and rules regarding advertising and asked for advice.

“We established he hadn’t known the strict guidelines regarding advertisement in the conservation area and hadn’t realised that he needed to seek permission from the authority.

“So I advised him to put in a retrospective application and see where we went from there.

“Myself and Mathew have also contacted the chief executive of Kirklees Council and asked if there is a possibility of putting together a guide for new businesses and business owners in the future with a basic dos and don’ts guide and useful contacts to stop a situation like this happening again.

“Slaithwaite is a fantastic place and has a variety of businesses of all types and with Globe Mills nearing completion I can only see it going from strength to strength.

“The authority needs to work alongside existing businesses and welcome new businesses to the community as they all help to boost the local economy and generate employment opportunities.”