ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

Tower Hamlets council today confirmed it has no powers to close down a controversial Jack the Ripper Museum, even though it was originally billed as a project dedicated to the history of woman in the East End.

The Cable Street attraction is seeking a "retrospective planning application" for its shopfront, triggering hopes of renewed opposition to the museum.

When it opened at the beginning of August, hundreds of protesters gathered outside to demonstrate against what was described as a "sick horror attraction". Former Google diversity chief Mark Palmer-Edgecumbe had originally obtained planning permission from the council to convert the empty shop into a museum which would be “the only dedicated resource in the East End to women’s history”.

In newly submitted documents, made in Mr Palmer-Edgecumbe's name, proposals for the front of the terraced building appear to show it much as it stands now, with "Jack the Ripper Museum" written beneath a logo and in between two Victorian-style lamps.

In the plans the words "And the history of women in the East End" have been added on panelling below the window.

One of the submitted documents, which are currently under consultation, refers to the project as "Women's Museum".

Notice of the planning application has been posted in the area near to the museum, prompting some to question whether anything can be done to oppose it.

That horrible @RipperMuseum is applying for retrospective planning permission. How can you protest it? pic.twitter.com/4qDUjTnzen — Periwinkle Jones (@peachesanscream) August 18, 2015

@peachesanscream @RipperMuseum if enough people object, I would assume they would be forced to destroy it by the council — Rob Moore (@RobM_07_78) August 18, 2015

But a Tower Hamlets spokeswoman said: "The council does not have powers to close this museum down. Planning permission was granted in October 2014 for the change of use of the premises to space for a museum.

"The council was advised at that time that the premises were intended to be used as a Women's Museum and supporting information was submitted with the application to suggest that the vision of the museum was to tell the story of women of the East End of London.

"Ultimately, however, the council has no control in planning terms of the nature of the museum."

Kate Connelly, 29, and Jemima Broadbridge, 45, led the protest earlier this month, and said at the time that if the building’s original purpose is not met, planning consent should be withdrawn.

Ms Connelly, a PhD student, told the crowd: “I think it’s a grotesque insult and not representative of women’s struggles.” Ms Broadbridge said: “We want him to deliver what he promised or shut up shop for good.”

Previously Mr Palmer-Edgecumbe has defended the museum on the grounds the victims of Jack the Ripper played a significant role in the history of women in the East End.

“The purpose of the museum, as stated in the original proposal, is to highlight the often overlooked history and untold stories of women in the East End of London," he said.

"In Tower Hamlets, the female victims of Jack the Ripper have formed a significant and undeniable part of that history.”