A SMALL business owner says an ongoing planning wrangle could harm trade at his coffee shop.

Paul Ellis, 40, has owned and run Aunt Sally’s coffee shop, in Bedale Market Place, for the past four years.

In October last year, he installed a canopy outside his premises, without realising the need to obtain planning permission.

He has now been ordered to take it down, after a retrospective application was thrown out by Hambleton District Council planners last month.

Mr Ellis plans to appeal against the decision, saying the pram hood-style canopy helps draw attention to his shop and pull in customers.

He says that losing the canopy would be a body blow to his business, which employs three full-time staff and contributes up to an estimated £60,000 a year to Bedale’s economy.

The application was rejected by planners on the grounds that the canopy was not appropriate for a traditional timber-framed shop.

It is thought that district council planners favour an awning-style canopy.

Mr Ellis has dismissed this claim, pointing out that several neighbouring businesses in the market place have the same style canopy as his.

He said: "My argument is with the council, I have a very good relationship with my neighbours.

"We are in the middle of an economic melt down, and I have got a small business struggling to survive.

"About 80 per of the products sold here are locally-sourced.

"I reckon we contribute about £50,000 to £60,000 a year to business in Bedale.

"I cannot see what is wrong with the canopy. To me, it is very subtle and tasteful.

"All our customers agree, as well as members of Bedale Town Council.

"If the canopy has to come down, I think business will suffer as a result."

In a letter to Mr Ellis, Maurice Cann, the district council’s head of development, explained the decision.

He wrote: "The design of the canopy is not appropriate to the frontage of a traditional timber-framed shop window within a listed building and is considered to be particularly detrimental to the character and appearance of the building and the surrounding Bedale Conservation Area."