Cake R Us, Devonshire Street, are facing legal action from the council over the union flag paintwork on the building. Picture: Andrew Roe

Members of Sheffield Council’s planning committee gave local authority bosses the power to take enforcement action and potentially pursue legal proceedings against Cake ‘R’ Us on Devonshire Street.

It came after the meeting was told attempts to settle the issue of the store not having planning consent to paint the flag on the Grade II listed building had failed.

Khalid Mahmood, a planning enforcement officer, told councillors: “This is something we have brought to committee before today to work with the owner-occupiers to come to some sort of resolution but it has not worked.

“They submitted a plan showing more or less what is there, not taking into consideration the comments we have made in trying to resolve this.”

No one from Cake ‘R’ Us attended the meeting on Tuesday afternoon at Sheffield Town Hall. Owner David Chan has previously said he had painted the shop in an ‘act of national pride’ and did not wish to remove it.

The granting of potential enforcement action against the shop follows a complaint about the store by a council conservation officer back in January.

A report to councillors said the ‘garish colour scheme painted on the shop front was unacceptable’.