A FLORIST who has run his own business for more than 30 years is concerned he may have to shut up shop after being told his new security shutters are unacceptable.

Sydney Walsworth, who owns Elizabeth Florist in Great Horton Road, put up shutters at his shop more than a year ago, but has now been told he must remove them by Bradford Council.

The 74-year-old has run the business for 32 years, and moved into his current premises two years ago after having to move from his old shop just down the road.

He is worried that if the shutters are removed his shop will become a beacon for thieves, and said he could not afford to have them replaced.

However, he did acknowledge he put up the shutters without obtaining planning permission.

Mr Walsworth said: “I was sent a letter by the council saying I should apply for retrospective planning permission for the shutters, but Councillor Joanne Dodds has told me there’s very little chance of me getting it.

“I got the shutters so my windows don’t get put through. A lot of my custom comes from funerals, so the last thing grieving people need to see is their floral displays have been stolen when they arrive to pick them up.

“If I have to take them down I wouldn’t be able to rest at night thinking about my windows being put through and the flowers taken.

“Nearly all of the shops around here have some form of security shutter, so why should I not be allowed to have them?”

Cllr Dodds (Labour, Great Horton) has been helping Mr Walsworth, who is a long-term friend, with his predicament.

She said it would be difficult to keep the shutters, as Great Horton is a conservation area.

“Over the years I have tried to help a couple of businesses in the same situation, but the council are governed by strict rules,” she said.

“I’ve pleaded with the council to look at them differently as these are small businesses. They cannot afford to take the shutters down.

“I was involved in a similar case in Southfield Road a few years ago, and now that business is gone because he had to get rid of his shutters.

“Sydney will now have to apply for retrospective planning permission, but he has a slim chance of getting it approved.”

In the Great Horton Conservation Area assessment, roller shutters with an external box are described as “unsuitable”, “unsympathetic” and as having a “negative impact on the conservation area”.

A spokesman for Bradford Council said: “We do have a statutory duty to preserve and enhance conservation areas and when roller shutters are installed on buildings in these areas they need to be in-keeping with the surroundings, and there is full guidance for shopkeepers on our website about this.

“All councils have a duty to investigate all breaches of planning control and the shutters at 736A Great Horton Road do not have planning consent.

“We are not singling out any one property. We tightened up our policy on shutters in 2012 so shutters installed after this date must be compliant. Bradford Council is investigating a significant number of similar cases of unauthorised shutters.”