SNACK van owner Dave Buljoo has won his battle to keep trading by the roadside in Portbury.

North Somerset Council licensing panel granted Mr Buljoo a street trading consent for his snack bar in the layby near the M5 motorway junction on the A369.

Mr Buljoo, 49, has been battling for a year to secure a permanent site for his D&C snacks business, since being kicked off the layby on the Portbury Hundreds which he had occupied for 14 years by North Somerset Council last September.

A delighted Mr Buljoo said: "This is fantastic news and now I can move on with my life."

After moving from the Portbury Hundreds he set up business at a layby at Valley Road but was forced to move on when planners objected and ended up trading from a layby at Martcombe Road in Easton-in-Gordano.

But he was moved off again earlier this year after parish councillors raised concerns on safety grounds, forcing him to move his snack bar to the lay by at Portbury, where he has been since August.

Both Portbury Parish Council and North Somerset highways department raised objections to the licence application on road safety concerns.

Highways chiefs said they were concerned lorry drivers visiting the snack bar were parking in the nearby bus stop on the A369, stopping buses from using it and posing a road safety hazard. Objections were also raised on the basis that the snack bar was partially obstructing a designated cycle route.

Portbury Parish Council chairman Les Summerfield told the hearing at Weston-super-Mare Town Hall: "There is no doubt that Mr Buljoo provides a good service, but this is not about popularity, this is about road safety.

"We are not against trading in the parish, but we are against unsafe trading in the parish."

Police, the fire service and district councillors for the area did not raise objections to the application. Clevedon councillor David Shopland spoke in support of Mr Buljoo at the hearing.

He said: "Mr Buljoo is a stranger to our shores and he came to this country seeking fair play and justice. To date, this has been sadly lacking.

"He is trying to provide for his family and does not want to sponge off society – he wants to contribute to it.

"So why, as it appears to the public, are we stopping him?"

The hearing was told that Mr Buljoo had collected a petition over the past week, with nearly 200 people pledging their support for him to stay.

One man, who cycled from Downend in Bristol to Clevedon each day, described Mr Buljoo as a "welcome oasis" and pleaded with council officials to let him continue to trade.

Mr Buljoo said the constant moves had badly affected his business over the past 13 months.

He said: "The last year has been very difficult for me as I have not known what the future of my business is going to be. The fact I have now been granted a licence to trade is great news and puts me back on a firm footing."

He added: "Wherever I go, my customers do follow me and I think this proves a need for a good quality snack bar. The right decision has been made."