A FLOWER seller is having a showdown with Kirklees Council over his buckets.
Eddy Underwood, 65, has sold lilies on a lay-by on the A62 at Pule Hill in Marsden for two years.
He was granted a licence to operate on the road using trestle tables, but says he was eventually allowed to remove the tables because high winds created the risk of them flipping over.
Now however, after licence officials carried out an enforcement visit, he has been told the buckets containing the flowers are too close to the road.
He said: “I speak to a lot of drivers and one of them said, ‘if I’m in danger of hitting that bucket, I shouldn’t be behind the wheel’.
“The issue is the buckets coming out just a few inches.
“Someone complained that it was taking up the lay-by and the council have acted on a ridiculous claim. None of my customers know what the problem is and I just want a compromise.
“It is a double lay-by and was built for wide vehicles. I understand there was a complaint but there had never been an incident and the council had forgotten I was there.
“I use the buckets because people can’t differentiate between them and the stalls.
“Offering the full bucket of flowers accounts for around 20% of my sales.”
The Regulatory Panel will meet on Monday to discuss the situation at 9.30am on Monday at Huddersfield Town Hall
Mr Underwood has requested an adjustment of the terms of the agreement and also put requests in for two other possible sites in Lindley Moor Road to be considered.
He added: “It’s just a waste of taxpayers’ money.”
A report to the panel states that the enforcement visit was carried out on September 9 to discuss the lay-by. Almost a week later the officers returned to check if he was complying.
It claimed that the presence of two £10 buckets ahead of the normal crates was breaking the agreement. He claims however that by parking his car further back on the verge, he is still not crossing the line or getting any nearer to the road.
A submission to the meeting by West Yorkshire Police read: “We agree...regarding the potential dangers that could be caused to both customers and road users alike. We must remember that this lay-by is for the use of all road users and not just a trading area for Mr Underwood.”
The council’s Highways department report read: “He wants to put out the additional plant pots to show drivers that he’s there.
“However this creates a potential road safety hazard because some customers will stop in the road in front of him to buy rather than park further down the lay-by and walk back.”
