It's wall over in street art fight

THE Scottish Executive has ruled that an Edinburgh comedy club's colourful mural is no laughing matter - and ordered the owners to paint over it.

Bosses at the Stand Comedy Club created the design at the back of their New Town premises without permission from the council.

City chiefs ordered them to scrub off the mural, ruling that the bright painting was "detrimental" to the building's appearance and out of character in the World Heritage Site.

Club boss Tommy Sheppard appealed against the decision to the Scottish Executive, but his appeal was dismissed.

Mr Sheppard, a former Labour Party official who was deputy to Jack McConnell when the First Minister was general secretary of the Scottish Labour Party, today said he was extremely disappointed by the ruling to get rid of the mural, which he claims tourists stop to photograph.

He argued that scrubbing off the mural would lead to graffiti returning to the wall behind the York Place club, but inquiry reporters rejected this argument, saying it could have set an "unwelcome precedent" and would allow others to alter buildings in conservation areas.

Scottish Executive reporter Roger Wilson said: "I am aware that you are concerned that if the finish were to revert to a more subdued colour, it would be the target for graffiti artists, ie other forms of defacement, and to some extent I share your concern.

"However, if I were to give this factor significant weight, it could set an unwelcome precedent and encourage others to propound the same argument on other similar quality sites."

The mural, which measures ten metres by three metres, was created last summer by Edinburgh artist Gavin Abercrombie in a bid to brighten up a dull wall on an extension.

It depicts comic characters and scenes below the words, "The Stand Comedy Club".

Mr Sheppard said: "I am extremely disappointed by the decision and I don't feel the reporter really got to grips with the issues involved.

"I don't see how a quality piece of artwork is treated as a blot on the landscape rather than something that needs to be protected.

"The mural brightened up an otherwise bleak part of a narrow street.

"This sort of thing wouldn't happen in any other city in Europe, but we have to accept the decision."

Malcolm Kirkpatrick, managing director of The Wind Section, a neighbouring firm, said he has seen tourists taking pictures of the mural and branded the reporter's decision as "outrageous".

He said: "It just seems ridiculous that something that brightens up a dark corner and isn't really that offensive to anyone as far as I can see. It is just a dull lane that is full of bins and I don't see why this has had to go all the way to the Scottish Executive.

"I assume the wall will now go back to what it was like before and that is a real shame."

A council spokeswoman said the local authority always stands by the decision of the reporter. [email protected]