A COMMEMORATIVE sign unveiled by the Queen on her visit to Stowmarket is to come down as it was installed without planning permission.The sign, which has pride of place outside Woolworth's in the town's Market Place and shows the town crest is situated in a conservation area.

A COMMEMORATIVE sign unveiled by the Queen on her visit to Stowmarket is to come down as it was installed without planning permission.

The sign, which has pride of place outside Woolworth's in the town's Market Place and shows the town crest, is situated in a conservation area.

Councillors said there was no time to go through the proper channels to get planning permission before the Queen arrived in town on July 17th as part of her jubilee tour.

The sign may now have to be moved to a different site as the current spot is also used for the town council's Christmas tree.

Town mayor Keith Scarff, said: "The sign was put up under an agreement with Mid Suffolk District Council that it would be taken down after the Queen's visit to allow the Town Council to apply for planning permission in the normal way.

"There wasn't time to go through the proper procedure. We will obviously negotiate a suitable site with the district council. It may come down, it may go back up in exactly the same place."

Although the sign may have to be moved, Mr Scarff confirmed that it would definitely occupy a prominent position in the town centre. Anything that has been unveiled by the Queen must be on full public display.

He added: "I know this isn't the normal way of doing things but then a lot of things are done differently before a Queen's visit. The Town Council took the unanimous view that this was the most appropriate way to commemorate the occasion."

Penny Otton, leader of Mid Suffolk District Council, said: "It was all very rushed in order to get it installed for the Queen's visit. Everyone was quite happy for it to be put up temporarily."