SOMERSET Council has been challenged to reveal who approved the removal of two historic cannons from Minehead Harbour without planning permission.

The pair of cannons - technically, demi-culverins from the War of the Spanish Succession - arrived in Minehead about 300 years ago to form part of the harbour defences.

Later, they were sunk muzzle-first into the quay and used to moor ships.

But in October, Minehead contractors CJ Lynch and Sons arrived to dig them out, apparently on Somerset Council’s instructions, resulting in an outcry from conservationists who claimed that the council had committed a criminal offence by breaking listed building regulations which could carry a two-year gaol sentence.

This week, Minehead’s MP Ian Liddell-Grainger joined protestors demanding the fullest possible explanation as to who actually gave the orders to remove the guns from the grade two listed structure.

And several residents who have made breach of planning complaints to Somerset Council, told the Free Press that they have now been awaiting replies for more than two months.

Former Somerset county councillor and Minehead town councillor John Malin who has submitted a breach of planning complaint, said: “We have all been ignored by both officials and councillors.

“You have a situation where the planning authority - which has a duty to deal with acts of criminality - would appear to have committed an act of criminality itself.

“A lot of people are very unhappy about what has happened and are asking who actually gave permission for the cannons to be removed without the necessary planning approval.”

In an attempt to calm the situation, Somerset Council hasnow issued a statement which said: “We removed the cannons on safety grounds and will be submitting a retrospective planning application.

“The cannons are now safely in storage and we are in talks with Historic England and the South West Heritage Trust to decide on the best option for their future preservation as a piece of local history.”

But Mr Liddell-Grainger said he could well understand the outrage the cannons’ removal had caused among the local community.

“If any private individual had damaged the harbour in any way, the council would have been down on them like a ton of bricks,” he said.

“But as I far as I can see nobody is prepared to own up to having given the OK to dig them up.”

Mr Liddell-Grainger said he had heard one explanation from the council that the cannons had been removed because the mooring lines attached to them represented a trip hazard.

“That is one of the most pathetic excuses I have ever encountered,” he said.

“They have been used to moor boats for a couple of centuries now and if people cannot be bothered to look where they are going when negotiating mooring lines that is their fault. What else do they expect to encounter on a harbour?

“This whole sorry affair seems to have been cooked up in some under-the-counter deal between the council and the local boat owners.

“It has even been suggested that they want to establish a repair compound on the harbour.

“We need to make two things clear: the boat owners do not own or run the harbour. It belongs to Somerset Council. And secondly, not a single stone of it can be touched unless planning consent has been obtained.

“If there are proposals for a change of use for the harbour then they must be first put to Minehead Town Council so that local people can have a chance to comment.

“And I have a pretty good idea that their comments will be summarised in a form of words suggesting Somerset Council keeps its hands off the harbour and avoids any kind of development which is going to harm its character.

“The last thing we want to see is a boat repair yard with all the attendant risk of pollution from oil and diesel.

“What we do need to see, on the other hand, is a clear proposal as to what is to become of the cannons - whether they are going to be replaced or, if not, when the council plans to start work on restoring them so they can go on display at the museum.

“In the meantime, I look forward to a full and frank admission from the council as to which official authorised this vandalism - a shocking example of causing damage to a listed structure for which local people quite rightly feel somebody should be prosecuted.”

John Malin said: “Somebody should be held responsible for what has happened.

“In the meantime, the local authority - in this case the unitary council - can issue a listed building notice to restore the unlawful works.

“In other words, the council should put the cannons back into the quay and then go through a proper planning process to get them taken out again.”