By Hannah Brown

Copyright cambridge-news

A florist has been told she can continue to sell flowers from a stall in front of her home, despite some neighbours objections. East Cambridgeshire District Council has granted Leah Francombe a licence to sell flowers from the stall next to her home in Stretham Road, Wilburton, between 10am and 6pm, Monday to Sunday.

Concerns about the flower stall had been raised by some of Ms Francombe’s neighbours, particularly around customers parking at the top of Millfield Lane. Bruce Prime claimed some customers park “dangerously” when stopping to buy flowers.

He said: “I have no objection to the flower stall as such, but I think it is in the wrong place. It should be at the other end of the property so that customers do not park at the top of the lane.”

Stephen and Lynn Garnham raised similar concerns, they said: “Whilst we have absolutely no problem with the flower stall/business, we strongly request some sort of restricted stopping/parking signs/cones which prevent dangerous/thoughtless parking.

“Personally we have had to place ourselves, whilst driving our car, in a dangerous position to join the A1123. People shopping at the stall don’t realise they are blocking a junction and our neighbours in the lane have all had difficulties.”

Others also highlighted that Millfield Lane is classed as a public bridleway and questioned whether people should even be allowed to park along the road.

Peter Francombe, partner of Ms Francombe, told councillors at a hearing last week (September 10) that they had proposed to cut down some hedges on the edge of their property in order to make a car parking space for customers stopping for flowers.

However, he added that he believed the concerns raised about the safety of parking at the top of Millfield Lane was “questionable”, as he said it was “quite a large lane”.

Mr Francombe said: “Leah does the flowers from home, she puts a few little plants out, normally stuff left over from weddings and funerals, it’s not an ongoing massive business. It is an honesty box and she enjoys doing it for the community and herself.”

Mr Francombe said they had been running that stall for around 18 months when a complaint was made and they were informed that they would need a licence to continue to sell flowers from the stall.

Councillors asked for clarification around the status of Millfield Lane and whether it is actually a bridleway, as they said people are not allowed to drive along a bridleway.

It was confirmed that the road is listed as a bridleway on Cambridgeshire County Council’s website, but the point was raised that if the bridleway restrictions were fully enforced it could prevent all people living along Millfield Lane from being able to drive to their homes. Officers highlighted that the stall itself is on Stretham Road and not Millfield Lane.

Councillors went on to consider the licence application in private. A decision notice published after the hearing confirmed that the licence would be granted to Ms Francombe.

It said: “Having read the content of the objections, and listened to the submissions by the applicant, members considered public safety, the avoidance of public nuisance, highways issues and compliance with legal requirements would not be undermined by the application.

“The sub-committee considered that there had been no objections from Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Cambridgeshire County Council highways department, or the parish council, and it was further noted that there were no restrictions on parking on the A1123.”

To get more breaking news and top stories delivered directly to your phone, join our new WhatsApp community. Click this link to receive your daily dose of CambridgeshireLive content.

We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice .