Takeaway opens at new site after station eviction

Essie Grill was forced to move away from Buxton railway station over lack of planning permission

A takeaway has reopened at a new premises after being ordered to leave a converted shipping container outside a railway station in Derbyshire.

Essie Grill, run by Ismail Rammo, served food from the container outside Buxton station despite not having planning permission to do so.

High Peak Borough Council refused retrospective permission for the container and ruled that it had to go.

The council confirmed the 40-year-old voluntarily left the station grounds at the end of July, and he has now moved into a new space in Buxton town centre.

Ismail Rammo has found a new place to run his Syrian and English takeaway

At a meeting on 17 June, the authority ruled that Mr Rammo's steel shipping container had an "unsympathetic" appearance in a "sensitive and prominent" gateway to the town.

It said Buxton railway station was Grade II listed and in a conservation area, and the container had led to "adverse harm" to a "historic environment".

A petition to the council calling for Essie Grill to be saved had hundreds of signatures, although a number of objections were also made.

Takeaway owner Mr Rammo said he had been busy since reopening

Mr Rammo came to the UK as a Syrian refugee in 2018 and set up Essie Grill, which serves a mix of Syrian and English cuisine.

Following his eviction from Buxton station, Mr Rammo said a local property agent let him know a space was available to rent for his business.

Mr Rammo started operations from the new site on Friday and said: "I am so excited because I have a new shop and a new decor and new everything.

"I want to say [a] big, big thank you to all the people in Buxton who are kind, nice, and tried to help me to do this business and stand up on my feet."

Mr Rammo said he had been busy since opening and that the past week had been full of "just nice, great people".