Shop fined £20k for unauthorised extension

Lead councillor for planning Micky Leng said it was "a shame" the business had chosen to repeatedly ignore the council

A supermarket has been fined £20,271 by a court after repeatedly ignoring council orders to remove an unauthorised extension built in front of the shop.

Reading Borough Council said planning enforcement officers had warned Grosik Supermarket, on Oxford Road in Reading, Berkshire, in 2021.

The council said the front extension had been erected without the necessary permission and the business ignored enforcement notices in both 2023 and 2024.

This resulted in a hearing at Reading Magistrates Court , where the local authority said the business had pleaded guilty.

The council said magistrates described the business's behaviour "to be particularly poor, having built something and then dragged its feet for years".

They had taken as an aggravating factor that the structure was "harmful to the street scene on the Oxford Road, setting set a bad example to other shops".

The local authority said they had also taken the view the company had benefitted financially through the unauthorised structure.

Magistrates said the structure was "harmful to the street scene on the Oxford Road, setting set a bad example to other shops"

The company was fined £16,666,ordered to pay a £2,000 victim surcharge and prosecution costs of £1,605.

Micky Leng, lead councillor for planning, said it was "a shame" that the business had chosen to repeatedly ignore the council.

"The council does not want to see any local business fined or taken to court, which is why when planning enforcement officers provide them with the opportunity to take action, they should respond promptly," he said.

"We would always advise any business if they are in any doubt about what may require planning permission to make contact with the council in advance of any works taking place, or it could prove costly in the long term."