Salon's 'Olympic' window causes copyright row

A determined hairdresser's colourful 'Olympic' front window has fallen foul of the Royal Borough's trading standards officers.

Richard Micallef, who owns Artwork Hair Salon in St Leonard's Road, Windsor, with Joanne Levett, has decked their front window with images of Royal Mail Olympic stamps and the famous 2012 logo.

But on Monday he received a visit from the Royal Borough's trading standards department - and it was not a friendly one.

Angry father-of-three Richard, 42, said: "I was told the images of Olympic stamps I had put up breached the Royal Mail copyright.

"She said I could not use the Olympic logo, that I had to take it all down and if I did not they would come back the next day and take it down for me. I even got informed I could go to prison."

A rebellious Mr Micallef has refused to take it down and yesterday his window was still defiantly resplendent.

He said: "It is ridiculous. The decorations have been up 12 weeks and everyone has commented how nice that someone has actually bothered to make the effort."

Steve Johnson, Royal Borough trading standards and licensing manager, said he could not comment on a 'specific ongoing investigation'.

But he warned: "While we would encourage anyone to support 2012 Games as much as they can, traders must be aware they can't use logos belonging to someone else without the owner's express permission."

He advised calling Trading Standards on 01628 683802 if in doubt.