Tottington coffee outlets on the Kirklees Trail face closure

Both Love, Love Me Brew and the newly openend The Little Leopard Coffee serve walkers and nature-lovers on ‘the lines’ section of the Kirklees Valley Trail on the weekends – the former out of a refurbished horsebox, and the latter from a vintage caravan.

But now the two businesses are in danger of being shut down.

According to the owners, after  complaints, the council realised that the land both traders are conducting their business on does not belong to the local authority -  despite both having sought official permission to be there.

Permission that had been granted.

The land is owned by Leisure Services.

The complaints are said to be about littering, car parking issues, congestion, noise pollution and large numbers of people gathering.

An inspection has been carried out with regards to the noise pollution, which deemed it to be of legal levels, the question of litter has been disputed by both traders.

But both outlets have been told they can not trade from the site on South Royd Street because it is on private land, and if they do not move the two could face enforcement action.

Neither Janine Sim of Love, Love Me Brew, nor Amy Wilson of Little Leopard Coffee had a clue that there were any issues with their operations until last week, and have commented on how proud they are of the communities they have helped to build in the area.

Janine Sim (blue coat) visiting Amy Wilson at Little Leopard Coffee

Mrs Sim, who has been serving beverages there since October last year, said: “If we’d have known there was a problem, we’d have sorted it.

“We don’t do it for the money, we do it for the love. Me and my husband both get paid much better in our other jobs.

“We set it up for the community because there’s nowhere to get a coffee in Tottington. We wanted to do something for the community after lockdown.

Mrs Sim, who also works as trauma therapist, added: “We do it to bring joy and connections and love. It’s really good for mental health.”

Ms Wilson said: “It feels like a bit of a kick in the face when we’ve been trying to bring the community together. It’s heart-breaking."

Nine-year-old Will Talbot with a display of support for the coffee vans

Together they have set up an online petition to try and garner the support they believe they have in the community, and so far, have over 1,000 signatures to convince the council to change its mind.

Ms Wilson said: “It’s been so heart-warming to see how many people were affected in such a short space of time. It’s so upsetting that it’s going to be taken away.”

Mrs Sim said: “We’ve been so touched by everybody. We knew we did it for the community, but we didn’t realise how much

“We want to be spoken to by the council. We don’t want to upset anyone.

“We don’t want to move outside of Tottington because that’s not the point of this.”

Cllr Yvonne Wright said: “It’s very upsetting all round.

“I’m a self-employed person so I understand the traders.

“I’ve had representation from both sides and I’m trying to find a compromise so that they can keep trading and residents are happy.”

A spokesman for Bury Council said: “Both of these outlets applied for, and have been granted, a street trading permit.

“However, it is a condition of the permit that they obtain permission from the owner of the land they wish to set up on – in this particular instance, the council. So far they have not asked for permission, and we would advise them to do so in order that this matter is resolved.”