A LYE gym boss has slammed bungling council workers as "brain dead" for siting a new road sign right in front of the logo for his world famous bodybuilding gym.

Jim Charles, who runs Jim's Gym in Chapel Street, couldn't believe his eyes when he noticed Dudley Council workmen had put up a large new sign banning heavy goods vehicles from the car-clogged residential street - directly obscuring the sign for his popular gym.

He said: "They couldn't have positioned it better. It's smack in front of our sign. I've only been here 49 years.

"I can't believe these people. Are they brain dead?"

After complaining to Lye councillor Pete Lowe, deputy leader of Dudley Council, workmen have since taken the sign down and repositioned it to the right.

Cllr Lowe, who is also Labour's prospective Parliamentary candidate for Stourbridge, said he couldn't say how much the blunder had cost taxpayers but he added: "I'm very pleased to see common sense has prevailed. You can't put a cost on making sure the wishes of people in the community are listened to."

Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, Dudley's cabinet member for transportation, also added: "We were made aware that our warning sign was from some angles obscuring the view of an advertisement for Jim's Gym and immediately set about relocating it to help the owners of the business. We have apologised to the gym owner for any inconvenience caused."

However Jim, an international bodybuilding judge who has been championing the sport since Arnold Schwarzenegger first flexed his muscles in the UK, says the sign's new location now gives the impression lorries should avoid Cemetery Road instead.

He said: "They've moved it so far to the right it looks like you can't go up Cemetery Road. I can't believe it."