A DIY store has flouted a legal order to close down, it is claimed.
Owners of ‘A to Z DIY and Plumbing’ in Fartown have ignored a ruling to shut down following a decision by the planning inspectorate last May.
The premises, formerly a supermarket, was converted into a builders and plumbers merchant without planning permission.
Residents complained of their street being blocked by lorries making deliveries and workers using forklifts making noise in the yard.
Kirklees Council issued an order last May for the firm’s owner Tariq Ali to demolish an illegal structure and remove all items for sale.
But residents living near the site have complained that the store’s operators have carried on regardless.
While an unauthorised timber building was removed and items for sale in the yard taken away, it is thought shop bosses have continued to supply people from inside the premises.
A householder living near the building, formerly a liberal club, supplied the Examiner with a picture of pallets of plasterboard being unloaded and delivered to the Cobcroft Road premises.
In a message to the council they said: “I‘m very disappointed to see that the A-Z business continues to receive deliveries of building material despite your orders not to.
“They continue to have shop signage and customers regularly come to pick up goods from the yard.
“Today they are using a forklift truck to receive a dozen or so pallets of plasterboard. It’s business as usual!
“What kind of example does this show to the community – that the local authority is useless?!”
The Examiner rang the store seeking to speak to owner Tariq Ali.
A worker claimed to not know of Mr Ali but admitted the premises was a DIY store.
Kirklees Council has now confirmed it is investigating and said any trading on the site is a criminal offence.
A spokesman said: “The council previously issued an enforcement notice requiring the building and land to stop being used for the storage of plumbing and building materials.
“While we understand that building materials stored outside were removed, anyone continuing to deliver or collect materials from inside the building will be committing a criminal offence.
“Officers are monitoring the site and if there is evidence of the illegal use we will consider formal legal proceedings against the person carrying out the activity.”
Kirklees Council first issued enforcement action in June 2015 but the firm appealed to the Planning Inspectorate.
But in May this year, owner Tariq Ali lost his appeal and was given a few weeks remove all the stock from the site on Cobcroft Road and return it to its former condition.
