Florist ordered off cemetery pitch

Ken Jones is back from Holland with flowers worth thousands of pounds

A flower seller in Northamptonshire is defying the local council by continuing to trade outside a cemetery.

Ken Jones, who has had a stall outside Corby cemetery, has been ordered off his pitch after being accused of breaching the terms of his licence.

Christmas is always a particularly busy time on the stall at the gates of the cemetery.

Mr Jones had just returned from Holland after stocking up with blooms worth thousands of pounds when the borough council told him to shut up shop.

Breach of agreement

"I'm gutted really because I've put in over two years of hard work for them to come along and try to do something like this," he said.

The council said Mr Jones' licence allowed him to trade on Fridays and weekends only, so doing business mid-week was a breach of the agreement.

Mr Jones disputes this. He claims he was given verbal permission by a council official to sell during the week at Christmas time.