A BUSINESS owner who has shut up shop has blamed Colchester Council for its demise.

Crouch Street trader Sam Richfield said he has also had to break up a fight, throw out shoplifters and he said the town centre road is blighted by the eyesore of the former Odeon.

Mr Richfield, who ran Vapers Lounge, said: “The old Odeon could be turned into something so productive for the town and has just been left there to rot.

“The parking there is a joke. They have two loading bays and people park in them and then buses can’t get through.

“All you can hear is traffic beeping. The drivers get tickets and the council gets money.

“I have had to go into the clothes shop next door and help them physically move homeless people trying to steal stuff.

“I caught two of them stealing from a charity shop down the road. I told them to go and put the stuff back.

“I stopped a fight over the road between the guy who works in the continental shop and a homeless person regarding alcohol.”

Mr Richfield, 27, also criticised the council ban on advertising boards and said he was told he could not install a roller shutter to protect his business.

He said Crouch Street foot fall dropped by 30 per cent in the past two years.

Mr Richfield added: “I have seen a massive decline in footfall in the town centre because of all these restrictions the council keep putting in.

“They do little things that ruin the high street.

“My opinion would be don’t open a shop in this town.

“The people aren’t the problem, it is the council.”

The shop is due to become a Turkish barbers after a refurbishment but Mr Richfield said he is looking into other business options in the Colchester area.

A Colchester Council spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear Mr Richfield has decided to cease trading.

“We know with unprecedented pressures from online shopping, fast-changing customer tastes and tighter household budgets, town centre businesses nationwide are having to compete harder than ever before.

“The ban on A-boards is about helping to make our town centre a safe and welcoming place for all visitors, including people who are visually impaired or who have restricted mobility, as well as to parents with children, prams and buggies. It is not, and never has been, an attempt to stifle free enterprise.”