A COUPLE could find themselves homeless after being forced out of their business.

John and Barbara Hubberstey say they are devastated after losing their livelihood and their home in one fell swoop.

Days before Christmas the couple were informed by United News that they were to close the shop they managed, on Skipton Road, as it was not making a profit. Only months before, they say, they had been reassured by the company that rumours it was to close were unfounded.

The shocked couple - who were under the impression that they were running a healthy business - were told that it would close on January 27.

As well as losing their newsagents the couple were informed they would also have to vacate their flat above the shop. Mrs Hubberstey said: "I was gob-smacked. I did not think a month was long enough."

In fact, the company did not wait that long - and closed the shop, which the Hubbersteys had managed for 17 months, days earlier, last Wednesday.

The couple say they have been left distressed at the dramatic reversal in their fortunes and the way the closure was handled.

Representatives of United News arrived at the business without warning and said the shop was to be closed immediately - just giving them time to collect their personal belongings.

Mr Hubberstey, 53, said: "They just gave us a letter saying they were closing there and then and would we vacate the premises. They did not give us a reason or anything. When they interviewed my wife they told her they wanted somebody long term to run the business."

Within days the shop was boarded up and the couple, who moved to Ilkley from Blackburn, found the phone in their flat had been cut off. They have also been barred access to the cellar of the shop, where many of their possessions are stored. The couple also claim part-time staff and paper boys and girls at the shop were dismissed without warning.

Mrs Hubberstey, 43, said: "Something like this happening is a kick in the teeth. We were running a business which we thought was doing well and then they board it up.

"I feel like a criminal. Our initial reaction was to despair."

The couple say that United News even called the police when Mrs Hubberstey refused to hand over a list of customers on their delivery route.

The couple had hoped to carry on the delivery rounds without the shop and say this was primarily agreeable to the regional manager of the chain. But the couple claim he later changed his mind and wanted payment for the rounds of up to more than £1,000.

The day after Mrs Hubberstey made him an offer of £500 they closed the shop, leading her to believe it was this which provoked the move.

The couple are now desperately seeking somewhere to live within the town. It is a search, which has even led Mrs Hubberstey on a soul-destroying visit to a Homeless Advice Centre, in Keighley.

She said: "If United News does turn us out, at the moment we just have nowhere to go. We were offered emergency accommodation at a hostel in Bradford.

"United News' attitude stinks. My sleeping is non-existent at the moment."

The couple are especially concerned not to uproot their eight-year-old son Joshua. The youngster, who has learning difficulties, has settled well at Sacred Heart Primary School.

Mrs Hubberstey said: "My biggest worry is not staying in Ilkley and what this would mean for Joshua.

"Sacred Heart have bent over backwards to help him. If I had to camp outside it so he could go there I would."

The couple, who also have a 13-year-old daughter, Sophie, are hoping to forge a new business, delivering newspapers to the customers they have built up.

Mrs Hubberstey said: "The reaction in Ilkley has been very reassuring. We are getting tremendous support from the customers and I have high hopes that this business venture will get off the ground.

"If the newspaper giant thinks we are finished it has another think coming. Goliath thought he could finish David off but everyone knows who had the last laugh."

United News declined to comment when contacted by the Ilkley Gazette.