THE director of a company operating a petrol filling station in Warrington has been ordered to pay more than £8,000 after breaching commercial rules and regulations.
Muhammad Ajmal Dar, of Rochdale, director of AK Fuel Ltd, which operates the Esso Cheshire Service Station on Manchester Road, Warrington, was charged with breaching limits on opening hours of the service station.
Planning restrictions on the business restrict opening hours to 7am – 10pm. But Warrington Borough Council received multiple complaints from local residents that the business was operating 24 hours a day and creating disturbances in the early hours. Planning enforcement officers investigated by visiting the business and observed that it was operating outside the agreed times.
Dar pleaded not guilty at Warrington Magistrates Court but was convicted.
He accepted the business was open throughout the night but argued that it had done so for several years and was no longer liable for enforcement action.
AK Fuel Ltd was fined £1,500, with a surcharge of £150, and costs of £4,000. Mr Dar was also fined £500, with a surcharge of £50, and costs of £1,885.
Cllr Hitesh Patel, Warrington Borough Council’s cabinet member for environment, housing and public protection, said: “Planning restrictions on opening hours vary depending on the nature of a business and how close it is to residential properties.
“The Esso Cheshire Service Station on Manchester Road is close to a number of residential properties and continuous activity throughout the night impacts upon the living conditions of people who live close by.
“We will always seek to co-operate with businesses to help them comply with the necessary requirements, but in instances where they continue to be breached, we will take action. Prosecution is often a last resort – in this instance, a planning notice requiring compliance with the approved opening hours was served, but the breach continued, which resulted in the council taking legal action.”
