A property developer has avoided the threat of legal action after taking down a sign that had been put up without planning permission.

Inland Homes had been warned by Chiltern District Council they could face prosecution for erecting the sign outside the former Pheasant pub in Amersham – which criticised the council after two previous planning applications to convert the Plantation Road watering hole into housing were rejected.

The firm had initially submitted a retrospective planning application for the sign, in a move which had been recommended for refusal by planning officers at the council. Members of the authority’s planning committee had been set to make a decision at a meeting this evening.

But the application was withdrawn after Inland Homes took down the sign.