Council blockades car parks with giant plant pots

Thilakshana Shanthakumar said she has invested around £1 million into buying and refurbishing Best Foods

Business owners have been told they can no longer use the parking spaces outside their own premises.

Best Foods and Blackpool School of Music, both in the South Shore area of Blackpool, have been told by the council that they do not own the forecourts and cannot use them.

But the owners of both businesses believed they had bought the land along with their premises.

Blackpool Council said it had taken action following safety concerns.

Concrete planters have been installed by town hall officials to prevent parking due to safety concerns

Concrete planters have been put in to stop people parking.

The council said parking on the forecourt areas was dangerous because they were so close to the traffic light junction with Vicarage Lane.

Thilakshana Shanthakumar, who said she has invested around £1m buying and refurbishing the building, said she was willing to buy or lease the frontage.

But she said she had been told by the council the area cannot be used for parking with direct access.

John Shaw, who founded Blackpool Music School in 2006, said: "When we bought this building in 2011 we were told the sale included the forecourt, and since then we have spent around £7,500 improving it.

"All these years we have been here, we thought we owned it. We are a charity and have 150 students now and if we have to find the money to buy or lease the forecourt it will affect our finances.

"I feel very upset and angry."

A Blackpool Council spokesman said: "Although parking on the forecourt may have happened historically, this was less frequent and would now cause an increased safety risk due to the area’s high pedestrian and traffic activity.

"During the last two years we have been in contact with the owners to try and find a suitable solution.

"Unfortunately parking on the forecourt has continued and we have had no option but to take action to prevent the potentially dangerous unauthorised use of this area."