A BAR that had its appearance likened to a Turkish brothel when it was painted bright pink is turning heads again after its owner decked it out in red, white and blue.

Gary Smith, 54, who shocked neighbours with the neon colour of Billie Jeans in Epping High Street when it opened in 2010, said he wanted to do something bold for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee this weekend.

“It needed painting and we were sick of the pink,” he said. “We really wanted something big for the Queen’s Jubilee and we’ve even done the bollards and the little trees red and white.

“We’ll have to wait to see if we get any moans or comments – we’ve had an awful lot of people looking as they go past and parking in the petrol station next door to take photos.”

It took him and a colleague just over a day to paint over all traces of pink from the outside of the building.

“It only took two coats to get rid of the pink,” he added. “We envisaged it being more, but we were quite lucky.”

But he said the change was not a bow to public opinion.

“It’s been there two years and it needed an update,” he said. “The jubilee was a fantastic opportunity.”

A developer was given permission to replace the bar with 12 flats and a shop or restaurant earlier this year, but Mr Smith said it would be at least four years before the bar’s landlords considered this.

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