A ROW has broken out in a market town over a fish and chip van after a woman who runs a cafe said it was attracting the wrong sort of customers.

Cafe owner Kay Allinson-Cooke said the van was a haven for council tenants and warned it would not be long before caravans and gypsies arrived.

In a letter, she said the culture of Corbridge, Northumberland, had deteriorated rapidly since the arrival of the mobile takeaway.

Mrs Allinson-Cooke, who wants the van moved from outside her shop to an out-of-town car park, said 90 per cent of people using it lived in local authority housing half-a-mile from the town centre.

She said other users were contractors and labourers, who wore bright fluorescent jackets.

In the letter to the parish council and residents, Mrs Allinson-Cooke, as chairwoman of Corbridge Business and Visitor Network, wrote: "We are concerned about the tolerance of the fish and chip van. What next? Caravans? Gipsies? Car boot sales?"

The owners of the van, Margaret and Gary Wilkins, said they were appalled by the letter, but were determined to continue their business.

Mrs Wilkins said: "It is absolutely disgusting. Me and my husband live in a former council house, but we are just as good as anybody else.

"We have got many people behind us in Corbridge and have had many letters of support."

Mrs Wilkins said the chip shop van had been licensed by the local council and that there was little Mrs Allinson-Cooke could do.

Mrs Allinson-Cooke, who opened the Art Cafe three years ago, has established the business -which is a coffee bar, wine bar and art gallery -as one of the leading galleries in the North-East. She was unavailable for comment.