THE council has denied threatening an artist who put up spoof road signs as part of a protest in Lymm with a criminal conviction.

Richard Cowley placed a fake road sign on Higher Lane and other temporary posters around the neighbourhood objecting to LiveWire’s plans to close Lymm Library.

Days later, the artist took to Facebook to complain that Warrington Borough Council had ‘gagged’ him and threatened him with a criminal conviction if he did not take the signs down.

He said: “I feel beaten, smashed to a pulp, wrecked, and disenchanted with my own, paid for, beloved holy council, with several calls from the planning team that have forced me to lay down and show the white flag of homestead surrender.

“I don’t know if I can carry on, my children need me to have a job and the threat of criminal conviction, not civil, is possibly a step too far.”

But a council spokesman said Mr Cowley was never threatened with legal action.

He said: “It is completely incorrect to say that Mr Cowley was threatened with a criminal conviction.

“One of our officers telephoned Mr Cowley after we had received a complaint from a member of the public. We requested he remove the signs as they are in contravention of planning laws and he was very cooperative.

“He asked if he should submit planning permission for further signs and we said we would offer him advice about this in the future.

“At no point in the conversation was he threatened with criminal conviction.”