AN established hot food van businessman has hit out at a low cost supermarket for trying to “bully” him off local authority owned land on a County Durham industrial estate.

Robert Pouton, who runs Rob’s Snacks, is in a long-running dispute with Lidl which has been putting pressure on him to leave a bridle path near to their regional distribution centre in Newton Aycliffe.

The trader moved to the spot at the junction of Millennium Way and Moordale Road in December and has finally received confirmation the land was owned by Durham County Council (DCC).

A number of complaints are understood to have been made against Mr Pouton parking on the site and the row culminated last week with Lidl putting down giant rocks to stop him.

He said: “They’ve just been trying to bully me.

"I’m not putting anyone out, I’m off the road, I pick up litter and put it in the bin, and I take the van with me at the end of the day.

"All the staff are pleased I’m here, all the drivers that go in, as well as people from Hitachi.

"I’ve been doing this for nearly 11 years and I’ve never had any problems before.”

The 52-year-old bought the catering van ten-and-a-half years ago and until December had been pitched up at Thinford Roundabout, Spennymoor,

However, when developers moved in to build a Costa Coffee he was asked to leave and found a van had recently left the spot near to the Lidl warehouse.

Since December Mr Pouton has been running a popular trade from his new location five days a week from around 7am until 2pm - with daily turnovers from Monday to Thursday at around £115 and on a Friday between £200 and £300.

In the last five months he says he has been visited by police officers, PCSOs and environmental health off the back of complaints he understands to have been made by Lidl.

He was prepared to move if the land was owned by Lidl, which he said they have claimed, but this week documents from HM Land Registry and DCC confirmed it was owned by the authority.

Brian Buckley, DCC strategic highways manager, said: “We can confirm that the land in question is our land.

"We are investigating the matter with respect to both the burger van and the placing of stones on the highway verge and will take any appropriate action.”

A spokesperson for Lidl said: “With heavy goods vehicles entering and exiting the regional distribution centre on a near constant basis, we have a responsibility to ensure there are no health and safety risks to either drivers or pedestrians.

"We’ve made every effort to peacefully resolve the matter and will now look to work closely with the local council, to find a suitable solution.”