A LONG-SERVING beach trader says the council has ‘ripped out his heart’ after ordering him not to serve refreshments from a temporary kiosk.

Tony Deadman was given planning permission to build two kiosks on Weymouth Beach as a contingency plan following delays to his new permanent kiosk that mean it won’t be ready until October.

But Weymouth and Portland Borough Council has now threatened to serve Mr Deadman with a court injunction preventing him from trading from the newly-erected temporary kiosk throughout the summer.

Councillors who are backing Mr Deadman’s fight to trade have branded the council’s legal threat ‘brutal’ and say the lack of kiosk provision on the beach this summer is ‘appalling’.

Mr Deadman, 46, said he can’t afford to fight the council in court.

He added: “It’s almost like they have ripped my heart out.

“I feel totally let down by the council after 25 years of trading on Weymouth beach.

“This year is my 25th anniversary and this is what’s happening.”

Mr Deadman says he has lost out on ‘thousands of pounds’ of trade while waiting for two permanent kiosks, which are designed to resemble upturned boats, to be in place.

He added: “This is absolutely ridiculous, it’s petty and it’s my livelihood that’s being threatened.

“This is costing me thousands of pounds. I won’t be able to trade all summer until the new boats come.

“This is the build-up year for the Olympics and there are no kiosks in place on the beach.”

Mr Deadman’s request in March to the council’s management committee to trade temporarily split members – with chairman Councillor Geoff Petherick taking the casting vote to turn the request down. But last month members of the council’s planning and traffic committee voted unanimously for Mr Deadman to erect two temporary kiosks on the permanent kiosk site.

Melcombe Regis ward councillors Peter Farrell, Joy Stanley and Ray Banham are backing Mr Deadman’s fight to keep trading.

Coun Farrell said: “This is an unusual situation involving cross-cutting committees.

“I find it hard to understand why, when the council’s own planning application was turned down in 2010, they gave themselves permission to temporarily trade, but in 2011 they will not allow the Deadman brothers the same facility.

“One of our corporate priorities is to support local businesses and we are failing to do this to a family that is a long serving family trading in the borough.”

Coun Banham said: “I think this is brutal and so totally awful and unjustified.

“I really sympathise with Mr Deadman, with the long-term investment he has made in Weymouth and now he’s unable to trade.”

Coun Stanley said the council’s legal threat means that there will be nowhere to buy refreshments on Weymouth beach for the first time in her memory.

“It’s appalling – never ever have I known there to be no kiosks on Weymouth beach,” she said. “It’s a disservice to the borough and its holidaymakers.

“It’s like saying: ‘We are not open’. I find it incredibly sad that this family who have traded for so many years on this beach have been denied permission to do what they did last year. What’s so different this year?”

A borough council spokeswoman said: “For legal reasons the borough council is unable to comment.”