By IANS
London : A British Indian bridal shop owner in Edinburgh has complained to the city council that she is losing business because a street trader covers her windows with football memorabilia of a local club.
Kavelle Kaur has approached the city council with a request to strip the licence of Gareth Paxton, who sells scarves, hats and flags outside her store.
Paxton has been called to a licensing committee hearing Friday following a string of complaints from Kaur, who opened her store more than two years ago, the Edinburgh News reported.
However, the trader has hit back, claiming his family have been selling merchandise for more than 20 years on the pitch and that he has no intention of moving.
“When we opened the shop the club were meant to be moving away from Tynecastle and I’d never been along on a match day, so I’d no idea anyone was selling anything outside the shop before we opened,” Kaur said.
“It’s obviously very bad for business as it completely blocks my window displays and creates a terrible appearance outside the shop. I’m trying to sell wedding dresses of up to 3,000 pounds and people can’t see them. It portrays a very bad image and is disrupting my business because crowds of people are gathered outside my door, blocking the way for customers coming into the shop,” Kaur added.
“I’ve asked Paxton to move slightly along so his stall will not obstruct my window, but he has simply responded with abusive language and has caused a scene,” the shop owner said.
However, Paxton said he had no intention of moving his pitch.
“I don’t see the problem. You can still see some of the window displays and I’m only there for a few hours when a match is on,” Paxton said.
“I totally dispute that I gave her any abuse. She has spoken to me but I’ve said I can’t actually move because that would breach the licence I’ve got. She wanted me to move nearer the bins in the street, but I can’t see her wanting to sell wedding dresses beside rubbish bins.” Paxton added.