Shopkeeper Gopichand Suryadevara claims NFDC discrimination as he appeals against order to take down blue-lit sign at shop Happy Mobiles on Lymington High Street

Shopkeepers who have been ordered to take down a sign at their mobile phone store in Lymington say they are being discriminated against.

Gopichand Suryadevara and wife Veni had erected the blue-lit signage at the shop Happy Mobiles on High Street, along with a burglar alarm and shelving.

But New Forest District Council (NFDC) planners decided they broke rules surrounding listed buildings and demanded their removal.

The couple have now appealed against the decision saying the removal expense will “likely take us over the edge both mentally and financially”.

They said they were being discriminated against as other shops on the High Street have similar signs.

NFDC said the additions “have harmed and have an ongoing harmful impact upon the significance of the Grade II Listed Building and the special architectural character of the Lymington Conservation Area”.

In their letter of appeal, the couple – who opened the shop in August last year – said: “We were informed that there had been a complaint about our fascia but were given no further information. It is our first independent business and we have worked very hard at great cost to support the local community.

“We strongly suspect that the nature of this complaint is discriminatory.”

They point out that there are “numerous other listed properties in the town that have changed their fascias, have three dimensional lettering, various coloured fascias, alarm boxes and have internal fittings inside their windows”.

They said that although the whole building was listed, the ground floor shop has “been changed many times over the years”.

NFDC planners ordered the sign to be changed back to wording on a timber base but Mr and Mrs Suryadevara said this was not what it was like when they took over the shop.

The couple said they had supplied images of what the illuminated sign was going to look like and received no feedback from NFDC at the time that it was not allowed.

They said they had already removed a projected sign that was on the building. The couple have also been told to remove shelving in the window and a burglar alarm which they say is “essential” and “discrete”.

In a letter to the council they said: “I hope that the clarity of the submission allows us to continue with our business. All the very hard work for myself and my wife and the very substantial costs to date have been immense. We have been welcomed and become a special part of our local community.

“As an independent and having spent much of our life savings setting up, any additional and substantial expense above the already overburdened cost of living we are experiencing, would likely take us over the edge both mentally and financially.”

Comments on the appeal should be sent to the Planning Inspectorate online via acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk by tomorrow (Thursday).