You’re Havana laugh: Cuban restaurant fined for flyposting on its own ad boards

Not so libre: Owner Roberto Hernandez with the offending poster

Hackney Council was forced to apologise after overzealous officers slapped a new restaurant in Dalston with a £50 fine for flyposting on its own advertisement boards.

The owner of Escudo de Cuba, which is set to open its doors next week, put up two posters for a Latin Night, one on his own A-board and one on a billboard attached to the wall of the premises.

But the council immediately issued a fine for the offence of “unlawful display of advertisement” outside the restaurant at number 20 Stoke Newington High Street.

Owner of Escudo de Cuba, Roberto Hernandez, said he was “gutted, frustrated and angry” at receiving the £50 penalty notice. He said: “We just wanted to bring some Latin vibes to the area. We put up some ads saying we were opening soon and we received a fine from the council straight away.

“They told us we had to pay £50 or it would go up to £2,500. All we were trying to do was tell people we were opening . I was stunned. The council are killing local businesses and are fining people unnecessarily.”

Hackney Council have apologised for the mistake, saying that the posters were “not illegal”.

Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Cllr Feryal Dimirci said: “It is illegal to put posters on walls without the owner’s permission. As the poster was attached to the front of the bar that the event was taking place in, it was not illegal. I would like to apologise to Mr Hernandez for this mistake.

“Mr Hernandez phoned the council and paid the £50 fine without contesting it. If he had explained the situation we could have investigated it there and then and cancelled the fine. We will write to him to apologise and he will be refunded.

“Business owners can use their shop fronts to advertise the goods and services available on their premises, although there are tighter controls in conservation areas and on listed buildings. A-boards are not allowed on public pavements in Hackney though.

“Enforcement on red routes like Stoke Newington Road falls to Transport for London. If our enforcement officers see A-boards on red route roads, they will advise TfL, who can seize the A-boards and issue fines.”