Kent County Council to tear down barriers pub landlord spent £8.5k on installing outside The Plough in New Romney

A frustrated pub landlord spent £8,500 putting up barriers to “protect pedestrians” - but now Kent County Council workers are set to tear them down.

Dean Miller, who has owned The Plough in New Romney for the past three years, has labelled the local authority a “joke”.

The 36-year-old told KentOnline he installed the metal railings last year to stop people parking on the verge and for the safety of passers-by.

But on Wednesday, highways contractors from Kent County Council (KCC) visited the pub - located on the corner of the busy A259 Dymchurch Road and St Mary’s Road - and handed him an order to remove the barriers.

Mr Miller had initially been told by officials that his proposals for the railings were not a highways matter - and he then spent thousands of pounds on installing them.

But now KCC says it is public land and the guardrail “poses a public safety concern as it causes an obstruction”.

However, Mr Miller wants to keep the barriers in place and is taking legal action against the council.

He said: “They are there to protect the public and stop people parking on the verge.

“I even left a break in the middle so the public can still walk through. If it's removed it's going to make it unsafe for people.

“It stops cars from flying through the car park and if there is a crash at least these barriers are protecting pedestrians.”

Mr Miller forked out a total of £32,000 on installing the barriers and re-tarmacking the car park, which stretches out to the kerb and is used by walkers.

He said: “Who is going to reimburse that if they are taken down?

“The removal works will also cause disruption to my trade. When KCC turned up this week they didn't even have signage with them to show my pub is still open

“The whole situation is a joke. I’m just trying to protect my customers.”

Mr Miller first contacted KCC in 2022 and asked if it would install the barriers on the site.

He was told that it was not a highways matter and he should contact Folkestone and Hythe District Council’s planning department.

But a later letter sent by the county council to Mr Miller says: “This is now understood to be a misunderstanding of your original enquiry by the KCC steward at the time, and an incorrect assessment of the situation on the ground.”

It says that the pub boss owns the freehold of the land, but adds: “The issue arising it that part of your land (namely the footway and grass verge) is adopted highway (providing a fundamental public right to pass and repass without let or hindrance) and maintainable at public expense by KCC.”

Mr Miller said: “I asked KCC multiple times if they would put the barriers up themselves. But after they refused due to it being on ‘private land’ I took matters into my own hands.”

The county council is now insisting the barriers “must come down”.

A KCC spokesperson told KentOnline: "This guardrail poses a public safety concern as it causes an obstruction on the highway.

"This is publicly maintained land with a public footway and grass verge which has now been turned into a car park for customers of the pub. Legal documents have been shared with the landlord which show that the land is public land.

"We have been told by the landlord that the guardrail will not be removed and therefore KCC contractors will be visiting the site to remove them."