A TEENAGE entrepreneur is being evicted from the site where he's selling sandwiches - even though Manchester Council said he could trade there.

Dean Kennear, 19, left school with no qualifications, but got a £3,000 loan from Prince Charles's organisation, the Prince's Trust, to set up a business.

He was delighted when Manchester Council granted him a trader's licence to work on land on Robson Way, Sharston Green, Wythenshawe. He has been selling food there since the start of August.

But the owner of the land has now said he has to go.

When he applied for the licence, the council wrote to Scottish Widows, which had owned the land. The insurance giant didn't reply to the council and town hall officials said Dean could trade there as long as the owner didn't object.

Now, the new owner of the site, a plastic mouldings firm called Hellerman Tyton, says he must go.

"The council told me I could trade here in the first place," Dean said. "Now I'm settled here and am making an excellent living on this road.

"The local workers and drivers know where to come to eat because there wasn't anything here for them before. I've asked the council to find a new pitch for me but they can't get anything - I've applied at lots of other sites and haven't got them.

"The sandwich bar is going great and we are getting more and more custom. I'm doing great but haven't got anywhere to go after next week."

Dean got the Prince's Trust loan and used £500 of his own savings to launch the business. He took driving lessons to get his licence and bought a large sandwich bar to sell food from.

"It was a big expense, but I wanted to run my own business," he said. "After the big loan I went on hygiene classes, went on business studies classes, and really learned how to trade. I've always wanted to do something for myself. I'm doing so well and now this happens.

"It will take me two or three months to find another place to trade. I don't know if I can go for that long."

Dean has started a petition from customers, which has been signed by more than 50 people over the last week.

He doesn't think he will be able to find somewhere to trade nearby as the best bits of land are already in use.

"The council has tried to help me find other sites but I haven't got time to stop work in the day and go out looking," he said. "I'm looking into other sites but I don't have time to stop work and search around for other locations. I'm starting to worry."

A council spokesman said: "It was agreed that Mr Kennear could continue to trade until his consent expires on September 30 and in the meantime that he would look for an alternative location either on the same industrial estate or another in the area. A representative of the Prince's Trust has met Mr Kennear and the licensing unit to discuss this situation."

A Hellerman Tyton spokesman said: "We don't think he should have been given a licence in the first place.

"We said to the council that he should be moved elsewhere - particularly as there is a bend in the road which makes it quite dangerous to sell food there. We've told the council not only didn't we give permission for him to be there - the road isn't safe."

Tweet