South Hams District Council continue to allow trade to be carried on in contravention of its rights to deny permission.

Traders selling ‘transfers’ that mimic tattoos have been trading from Dartmouth’s South Embankment. Unwilling to give her name, the woman manning a stand on the Embankment said:”My boss has checked it out. We don’t need a peddler’s licence as we are selling a service not a product. You need a licence if it’s a product but not if it’s a service. He’s had a stand at Bournemouth and that caused them to change their regulations to ban us selling a service but other places like Dartmouth haven’t done that so we can be here.”

A spokesman for SHDC said: “It is our belief that the application of tattoos is classified as a product, due to the value of the tattoo compared to the skill required to apply it. The sale of items [products] on the street, can be controlled through the requirement to have a Pedlar’s Licence. This does not apply to the sale of food items, or services such as hair braiding, however the landowners permission is always required.

“It is up to the landowner to give or deny permission. In these cases we have not explicitly given permission, but we have not enforced against them either. Within the highway, a tattooist would need a Pedlar’s Licence because they are selling a product, not a service. They can get this licence from the Police. If they fail to get a licence, then this offence is enforced by the Police.”

The tattooist interviewed and shown in the photograph was on the Embankment and far enough away from the road that she was not on the highway or part of the pavement owned by Devon County Council but on the part owned by SHDC.