A village cafe boss has been warned she could face a £20,000 fine if she so much as looks at a rival tea shop next door.
Kerry Radley, who runs Radley’s cafe and shop, has caused a stir in the usually sleepy village of Salhouse in Norfolk after a longstanding feud with business rivals Prima Rosa.
The parish council received complaints the cafe owner had been intimidating customers from Prima Rosa, which is run by a councillor.
As a result, mother-of-three Radley, 45, has been slapped with a Community Protection Order by the local authority which stops her even looking at her business rival – a ban she has described as bonkers.
Kerry Radley (pictured), who runs Radley’s cafe and shop, has caused a stir in the usually sleepy village of Salhouse in Norfolk after a longstanding feud with business rivals Prima Rosa
Radley’s cafe and shop, pictured here, has been at the centre of a row in the tiny Norfolk village
Kerry Radley, pictured, has described the ban she has received as a result of the row as ‘bonkers’
The parish council received complaints the cafe owner had been intimidating customers from Prima Rosa (pictured), which is run by a councillor
Councillors said they had received complaints about Kerry ‘causing anxiety’ to the owners of Prima Rosa, parish councillor Martin Nudd and his wife Judith (pictured)
Tensions are at fever pitch in Salhouse after Broadland district council served the order in spite of the fact that Radley’s has been the target of a dirty protest involving dog faeces.
The no peeping conditions are attached to the conditions which, if breached, can see individuals fined up to £2,000 and businesses like Kerry’s up to £20,000.
Councillors said they had received complaints about Kerry ‘causing anxiety’ to the owners of Prima Rosa, parish councillor Martin Nudd and his wife.
But yoga teacher Radley says she is the real victim and denies any wrongdoing, and has called the CPN ‘bonkers’.
Mum-of-three Kerry, who’s also a yoga teacher, says she has been ‘trolled’ online and had her shop sign smeared with poo.
Mum-of-three Kerry, who’s also a yoga teacher, says she has been ‘trolled’ online and had her shop sign smeared with poo
She claims to have been hit with fake online reviews about her business, including one from a dead paratrooper who said he had purchased out-of-date crisps.
But in June she received a warning letter from the council in June who said said they were ‘satisfied she was responsible for persistent and unreasonable conduct’.
Kerry closed her business in September, explaining today: ‘I burst into tears when they served the order – it was really embarrassing and I had to shut the shop.’
The council’s legal team has accused her of taking photos of friends of the Prima Rosa café owner, posting negative comments on social media about Prima Rosa and its owner, removing Prima Rosa advertising from around the quiet village of 1,500 people and being ‘aggressive and intimidating’ towards the café’s suppliers, customers and friends.
The council also accused her of parking near Prima Rosa and staring into the cafe to ‘intimidate’ the owners – something she is now banned from doing but which she denies has ever happened.
‘The conditions of the CPN are just ridiculous – the ban means I cannot drive down the road in case I look at Prima Rosa.
‘It’s crazy because I need to look left, which is where Prima Rosa is, to pull up safely outside my property.’
The order means she cannot stare directly into Prima Rosa from any vehicle, moving or stationary, enter Prima Rosa for any purpose or take photographs of customers or friends of Prima Rosa without permission.
Radley’s problems started shortly after she opened up the cafe (pictured) in Lower Street, in August 2014
Radley has appealed against the order and a court hearing is scheduled for February 1.
She said her problems started shortly after she opened up Radley’s, in Lower Street, in August 2014.
Investing £75,000 in the business, which also served as a shop and post office, she said she had wanted to restore some of the amenities the village had been lacking.
But accusations and abusive comments were posted on various Salhouse community pages.
Her signs started to go missing and she said one was even smeared with dog faeces.
‘I was ridiculed online and some were calling my children half-breeds’ said Kerry, who has lived in Salhouse for around 20 years.
In May 2015, Salhouse parish councillor Martin Nudd and his wife opened up a tearoom, Prima Rosa, just metres away.
Kerry said it resulted in her losing a lot of summer trade as Prima Rosa was the first place for people arriving in the village from the Norfolk Broads holiday hotspot.
Despite working 70 hours a week, her business became unviable.
She briefly closed the shop at the start of this year before re-opening in May, but after the council began investigating the allegations, she closed again in September.
‘It was meant to be something for the community. Ironically, I’ve now ended up with a community protection order.’
Coun Nudd, from Prima Rosa café, said he ‘had found it best not to comment in order to prevent inflaming any situation’.
But he has said in the past that he had ‘no idea’ of Kerry’s plans when he and his wife put in their bid for the Prima Rosa site in April 2014.
He claims the businesses were two ‘completely different shops’.
Community Protection Notices were introduced as part of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act in 2014.
It gives an authorised person, such as a council, the power to issue a notice to anyone aged 16 and over if their conduct is having a persistent negative effect on people living locally.
But the orders have also attracted criticism, with some campaign groups claiming it gives council officials too much authority.
A report by the Manifesto Club, which campaigns against what it calls ‘hyper-regulation’, said ‘CPNs are more likely to pass beneath the radar of public criticism and debate; they can also be used to target the individuals of which officials disapprove rather than stating restrictions that are nominally applicable to everyone.’
Breaching a CPN is a criminal offence and could lead to a fine or prosecution.
If an individual is convicted, they can be fined up to £2,500, while a company is liable to a fine up to £20,000.