THE furious son of Blackburn shopkeepers today hit out at town hall planners as council workmen began erecting a bus stop outside the family store.

Sabir Ravat, 31, said he could see no reason why transport bosses at Blackburn with Darwen Council had decided to move the stop 200 yards from outside the community centre in Accrington Road to outside his parents' grocery store.

Mr Ravat said: "It will cause my parents an incredible amount of problems. The whole shop will obscured when buses stop and there are already problems with youths hanging around. This will only encourage them to loiter here even more. "I'm sure our neighbours will not be happy about it either as this spot was one of the only areas where people could park and now that has gone. I just can't believe what they have done."

Mr Ravat said his mother and father Amina and Musa Ravat have run the general store for more than 15 years and that he and other members of the local community objected to plans during the consultation period.

He went on: "They have moved a single pole stop 200 yards from outside a community centre to directly outside our shop. I just want to know why." A spokesman for Blackburn with Darwen Council said the stop was moved following extensive consultation with bus users and businesses in the area as part of the Quality Bus Route initiative and that an officer had visited Mr Ravat to discuss the situation last week.

She added: "The initiative aims to improve access to public transport for people with mobility handicaps as well as promote the use of public transport. The stop is an identified single column bus stop and views of the business premises will not be affected.

"Parking is still available in the area very close by on the main road and in the side streets."

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