The refusal notice from the District Council reads: “The three window graphic signs due to the scale, siting and colour adversely affect the character and appearance of the existing shop frontage, building and conservation area” Councillors at the planning authority maintain that the shop front, which also features a man in tight boxer shorts as well as the bikini-clad model lying on a beach, was "not in keeping" with the image of the historic market town. It is something that Mr Cole strenuously refutes. Jim told LeicestershireLive the removal of the image would have involved the redesign of the front of the salon, costing thousands. He said: "All because of two people - just two, who I'm told complained to the council - saying that a picture of a sunbathing woman was somehow offensive. I can't see how anyone wandering around the town centre would think that, it's the kind of thing you'd see on the cover of any holiday brochure."

We then applied for permission to keep the images. Nobody objected but the council still refused it. It's so silly, so we are appealing against the refusal and we are still holding out hope because it all seems a bit absurd. 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 has previously said: "The refusal notice highlights a concern that the advertisement detracts from Market Harborough Conservation Area."

We will be appealing the decision but the worst case scenario would be to have to remove one of our stand up tanning beds which is currently behind our covered window, which would stop us creating revenue in our town. The Council has refused a retrospective application for display advertisement consent, saying the graphics adversely affect the character and appearance of the area.A tanning salon has reached a compromise with planning officers over an "offensive" image of a woman sunbathing. The Malibu Tanning Lounge in Coventry Road in Market Harborough was the subject of two complaints about the picture of a woman in a bikini on the basis that it was not in keeping with the look of the conservation area.

Mr Cole admitted he had not applied for planning permission before putting up the display as he did not know it was required. He added: "To be honest we didn't know we needed to apply for planning permission, I thought we're not building an extension here.

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All because of two people, just two, who I'm told complained to the council - saying that a picture of a sunbathing woman was somehow offensive. I can't see how anyone wandering around the town centre would think that, it's the kind of thing you'd see on the cover of any holiday brochure." Harborough District Council has now refused a retrospective application on the grounds the images adversely affect the character and appearance of the area. Mr Cole says he now faces having to spend several thousands of pounds redesigning the interior of his shop if an appeal against the ruling is unsuccessful. The Malibu Tanning Lounge owner says his shop front is an improvement on what was there before he opened up (Image: Google Maps) 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.