York Happy Valley Chinese Restaurant Goodramgate sign down

As The Press previously reported, Happy Valley Chinese Restaurant in Our Lady's Row in Goodramgate applied for retrospective planning permission having attached signage to the front of the building and last month it was refused by City of York Council.

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The Ghost of William Etty - a group formed back in the 1990s to help save York stone pavements from being pulled up in city streets - objected to the sign saying it was vandalism of a Grade 1 listed building.

One of the group's founders, Gordon Campbell-Thomas, was on a mission to get the sign removed, and staged a protest outside the restaurant.

And the application followed a similar application from the neighbouring Old York Tearoom last year. On that occasion City of York Council denied their retrospective planning application and the business owners have appealed the decision.

Happy Valley Chinese Restaurant in Our Lady's Row in Goodramgate without the sign (Image: Supplied)

Mr Campbell Thomas said: "I am very happy that at long last sanity is starting to prevail in Goodramgate.

"Happy Valley restaurant has complied with the council ruling on signage on a Grade 1 listed building for which the Ghost of William Etty thank them.

"We are still waiting for the Olde York Tearoom to follow suit."

When the initial application was submitted, Junyue Tan from Happy Valley said the sign was needed to attract customers after he has been saddled with a whopping £8,000 insurance bill.

Gordon Campbell-Thomas with his sign protesting outside the Happy Valley Chinese restaurant in Goodramgate, York (Image: Haydn Lewis)

Mr Tan said: "The sign is needed to keep the business running. We need to attract customers as often people say they can't find us.

"Our insurance bill is now £8,000 - are those objecting going to pay the bill? It was £2,000, but it has gone up after a lorry hit the outside of the building and and damaged it. The driver was trying to avoid a blue badge holder who was parked so he couldn't get past."

According to York Civic Trust Our Lady's Row is one of the oldest buildings of its type, not only in York, but in the country and it was built in 1317.