A tanning salon in a historic market town has been ordered to remove an "offensive" window display of a sunbathing woman following complaints by two local residents.
Malibu Tanning Lounge in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, was asked by the council to take away the image which features a model in a bikini on a beach.
The salon's owner, Jim Cole, paid £700 to have the large poster plastered across the window last month in a bid to provide privacy to customers inside.
However, officials from Harborough District Council visited the salon to say there had been complaints over the window display, which also required planning permission.
The council has now refused a retrospective application on the grounds the image adversely affects the character and appearance of the town.
Mr Cole says he will have to spend several thousands of pounds redesigning the interior of his shop if an appeal against the ruling is unsuccessful.
The 29-year-old, who opened the business in October last year, said: "We just can't believe it, we think it's ridiculous."
He said the image aims to protect the privacy of customers as tanning beds are located by the window.
He explained: "We were noticing builders and other people gawping at the girls inside which we didn't think was right so it protected them from unwanted attention.
"The till and computers are there as well so it also provided security. We didn't envisage any problems because it is clearly not an explicit image.
"It's just a happy woman relaxing on a beach and I found it hard to believe anyone would find it offensive.
"We were shocked because nobody had told us they had a problem before then - if anything people really liked it."
A representative from the council said the image had been deemed offensive by two people in the town, the salon owner claimed.
The council insisted the complaints were not caused by the fact the signage was "offensive" but because the advert was deemed to detrimentally affect the character of the conservation area.
Mr Cole said: "I decided to post the image on social media to see if anyone found it offensive but so far nobody has said it is.
"We are a small business in a town where there are vacant units and yet they want to try and hamper the trade of local firms.
"We bring in money to the town, pay our business rates, and you would think they would have some common sense.
"They should be encouraging small businesses to the area, not trying to drive them away."
Mr Cole admitted he had not applied for planning permission before putting up the display as he did not know it was required.
However, when he later applied for permission to keep the images, the council refused it.
Mr Cole added his company is appealing against the refusal, which he described as "absurd".
He explained: "All we are doing is trying to promote our small business. Nobody comes into towns anymore and we're helping drive people back into Harborough.
"But it's not just about the image. It also serves as a screen to protect the privacy of our customers and our staff so they can't be seen by people walking by.
"If they turn it down again I'll be forced to reconfigure the whole shop and move beds around which will cost me thousands of pounds.
"A cubicle is around £2,000 so to reconfigure I would need to create new panels of four cubicles.
"The council just won't listen to my arguments, I think they have taken one look at it and disapproved of it themselves while the general public think it is fine."
A Harborough District Council spokesperson told The Mirror: "When a complaint is received, as in this case, the Council, as the Local Planning Authority have the powers to investigate it. Following the investigation, the Applicant was asked to remove the unauthorised advert or submit a retrospective advertisement application.
"The Applicant submitted an application and this was duly assessed against the Harborough Local Plan, Supplementary Planning Document and the National Planning Policy Framework. It was judged the advertisement harmed the character and appearance of the Conservation Area of Market Harborough, an historic market town.
"The owner has a right to appeal this decision which if he chooses to exercise, will be considered by the Government’s Planning Inspectorate.”
