A FRUIT and veg business in Wem has been forced to stop trading in a public area after complaints were made.

Neil France Quality Fruit and Vegetables had been trading for the last two weeks on land adjacent to the former garage in New Street, selling essential goods, as well as fruit and vegetables.

But on March 30 it was ordered by Shropshire Council to cease trading on the site, and will now operate out their unit on the Aston Road Business Park.

Business owner Neil says he and his staff are "devastated" by being forced to move.

"After two weeks of helping the community obtain all their fruit, veg, dairy products and everyday essentials within this turbulent time, we are no longer allowed to trade from a public place," said Neil.

"I received an email from Shropshire Council informing me they have had complaints about us serving the community from a public area.

"To say we are devastated is an understatement, we never knew we were doing any wrong.

"We had permission from Barry Hawkins, kindly to be there and genuinely thought that was enough, as well as our 5/5 rating, and staff employed by the business.

"To the people of Wem, we are deeply sorry we cannot be there today as promised, this has been taken out of our hands.

"As of Wednesday, April 1 we will be running the stall from our unit between 10am and 2pm.

"For those that haven't got access to transport, we will also be offering a delivery service tomorrow if you would like to message the Facebook page we will do our best to help you.

"The same produce will be available for delivery as what's on the stall."