Road blocks threat
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• Drivers have threatened to block roads in Worksop, Notts if Bassetlaw District Council closes down any of the mobile cafes trading on trunk roads in the area.
But the council says the six closures are planned by the Highways Agency, over which it has no control.
The dispute follows the council's decision last year to designate parts of the Al, A57, A631 and A614 as "free trading consent roads", where traders have to apply for annual permission to operate. This followed a series of complaints from residents and businesses in the
area. When residents objected to every one of the 14 cafe applications, the council's licensing panel decided to allow the traders and objectors to present their cases in a six month round of public hearings starting in December.
But before the hearings get underway, the Highways Agency has moved to close six cafes on the A57 Worksop bypass where trading is forbidden by a clearway order. The agency has refused to give the council powers to control them.
"We're being told they're in dangerous positions," says Councillor Chris Smith.