RED-faced county council chiefs were forced to remove a road sign just 24 hours after it was installed after it blocked the pavement and a local business's advertising board.

Within hours of the directional sign being put up outside the former Thresher store in Long Street, Williton, the Free Press received numerous complaints from villagers questioning the logic of its location.

Rather than being installed on a verge, the supporting posts were dug into the pavement, leaving a gap that was simply too small for double pushchairs or motorised disabled buggies to get through.

The sign - which warned HGVs about a weight restriction on North Street - also obscured the business hoarding of local chiropractor Neil Metcalfe.

The first he knew about the sign was when contractors turned up and spent half a morning fixing it in place.

Mr Metcalfe, who runs the Back to Health clinic, said: "I raised concerns about it blocking my sign but was told they didn't have to consult anyone about it."

He eventually tracked down a highways officer and complained directly to him.

Fellow residents were also busy complaining, including Long Street's Robert Ansell and plumber Nick Witcher.

Mr Ansell said he was concerned pedestrians would be forced to walk past each other in the road as the already narrow pavement had been made even smaller.

Mr Witcher added: "It just can't believe they put it right in the middle of the pavement.

"There was no way wheelchairs and pushchairs were going to get through."

It later transpired that a replacement sign had been requested by Williton Parish Council - but on the opposite side of the road and further along by the village social club.

And it seems the complaints, particularly Mr Metcalfe's paid off, as what had taken two men half a day to erect on Monday, ended up taking only minutes to remove on Tuesday.

A spokesman for Somerset County Council confirmed the sign was a replacement for one which had fallen off a pole outside Williton Social Club, but said the decision had been taken to install a new one on a different site.

The spokesman said: "In order to give greater awareness of a weight limit in North Street, the replacement sign was placed further back on the opposite side of the road in front of the defunct Thresher off-licence.

"Various other sites were considered and rejected due to the proximity of residential properties and the narrowness of the pavement.

"Unfortunately, the new sign, when erected, partially obscured the sign of an adjacent business so a decision was made to revert to the original site and the sign was removed within an hour of the decision being made."

This picture of county council staff removing the offending sign was taken by Eddie Cridland, who had just finished a consultation with chiropractor Mr Metcalfe.