WHEN Roger Shenton removed a section of wall and hedge at the front of his York property he thought it would mean a widened entrance into his driveway.

That would allow him to park his car in a different position, giving him more room to climb out and also to walk past the vehicle to his bungalow in Huntington.

But now he has been left with just one obstacle standing in the way of the drive - a council road sign on the pavement.

Mr Shenton, of Connaught Way, Huntington, said he asked City of York Council to move the street name sign but when an official came out to inspect it, he refused to authorise the move.

“He claimed the council didn’t have the budget to pay for it,” he said.

Mr Shenton claimed that when the sign was first installed and he raised concerns about its positioning, he was told it could be removed later if it ever proved inconvenient.

A council spokeswoman said its records showed that Mr Shenton had not applied for an extension to widen his dropped kerb area to allow wider access.

“Had he done so, the street work inspector would have authorised the contractor undertaking the works to move the sign to another location, as near as possible,” she said.

“We believe the driveway has been widened but the access from the highway has not. Mr Shenton is expecting to drive to his extended driveway over a raised kerb which would cause damage.”

She said that if the kerb had been dropped without authorisation, Mr Shenton needed to speak to the council to obtain this retrospectively. “We could arrange to move the Street Name Plate, but the costs would fall to Mr Shenton as it is because of his works and for his sole benefit.”

Mr Shenton said he had not applied for and he did not need an extension to the dropped kerb, as he could access all of the drive through the existing dropped kerb, providing the sign was removed.

Huntington councilllor Carol Runciman said the sign was clearly obstructing the driveway and she would be contacting the authority to press for it to be removed.