Trading Standards order seats outside Greenham Common Control Tower café to be removed

Popular takeaway service used by walkers

Greenham Common Control Tower has been ordered to remove its outdoor seating by Trading Standards.

The tables and chairs were left outside the tower for walkers to sit at but it seems that some thought it encouraged people to congregate.

The common is a popular place to walk and the takeaway service, run mainly by volunteers, offers much-needed refreshments.

Following the visit from Trading Standards, the seats are now neatly stacked against the wall. However, it seems the two benches just outside the cafe area, which are concreted into the ground, still provide a resting place for visitors.

A posting on the Greenham Community Facebook page has had some sympathetic responses: "I think what you’re doing at the control tower during these times is a wonderful beacon, in what may otherwise be quite a desperate time for many people. I also think leaving chairs etc out for people doing just about the only thing that they’re allowed to do, getting exercise and also able to walk with one other, was an inspired act of kindness to the community and a wonderful gesture"

Another said: "We were so blessed this week when we walked by and saw the café open for takeaways. A real treat for walkers. Outside on socially distanced tables and a bag of snacks for the dog. Lovely spirit lifter in these sad times."