LICENSED pedlars have been prosecuted for failing to keep moving in Weymouth town centre.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council brought prosecutions against Andrew Lees and Paul Byrne after CCTV footage showed them trading while standing still.

The terms of pedlars’ licences require them to move as they do business and only allow them to stop while completing transactions with customers.

Both men pleaded guilty to breaching the terms of their licenses when they appeared before Weymouth magistrates.

Lees, of Buttermere Court, Perton, Staffordshire, who sells toys, had previously been prosecuted by the council for the same offence in 2002.

He was fined £300 for the new offence and ordered to pay £200 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Byrne, of Barrington Road, Crawley, West Sussex, pleaded guilty by post and was fined £115 and ordered to pay a further £250 costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

He has a stall on which he carves people’s names on to a grain of rice.

A spokesman for the council said both traders were allowed to keep their licences but will request in the future that magistrates revoke the licences of pedlars found guilty of breaching their licensing terms.

The spokesman added that the men had been caught on CCTV trading from static stands in Bond Street and New Bond Street, Weymouth.

The council’s briefholder for corporate affairs, Coun Mike Goodman, said: “Unlawful street trading is a problem in Weymouth, particularly in the summer months, as it is in most other seaside towns.

“Street trading is not permitted unless a licence from the council has been obtained.

“A pedlar’s certificate which can be obtained from the police for a much smaller charge, is not sufficient for this kind of trading.”

He added: “Some people may view such action as an over-reaction to a minor problem but without some form of regulation the public is at risk from potentially dangerous goods and services being offered.”

Reacting to news of the prosecutions, the president of the borough’s Chamber of Commerce, Nigel Reed, said: “To some extent the chamber appreciates the street culture trade as something which makes the streets of Weymouth more varied.

“But there is very little control over these pedlars’ licences.

“The chamber agrees with the council being active in prosecuting people to ensure that pedlars keep to the letter of the law.

“My view is that sometimes street activities are attractive and can bring people into the town, but it can be unfair to the more prominent traders in the town who have paid for stalls.”