A village shop has been told it is not allowed to open a food trailer to sell sandwiches, coffee and pizza to people passing by. 

Huntingdonshire District Council had been asked to confirm the shop was allowed to park a mobile food trailer in the forecourt outside the store and post office in Alconbury. 

The applicant, Gainfort Ltd, said it had been told by planning officers that planning permission was not required, and therefore asked for a certificate of lawfulness to confirm this. 

However, the district council has said the food trailer would be separate from the shop and constituted a new development. 

The application for the certificate had highlighted that the shop, on the corner of Bell Lane and the High Street, already sold sandwiches, tea and coffee. 

The plans said the new trailer would mainly sell sandwiches, tea and coffee, but would also sell pizzas up to three evenings a week between 4pm and 8pm. 

The proposals also set out the hope to take the trailer to events in order to sell pizzas. 

The applicant said the new trailer would be “ancillary” to the use of the shop. 

They said officers at the district council had told them they would not need separate planning permission to do this, and asked for a certificate of lawfulness to formally confirm this. 

However, in a report published by the authority, officers said the food trailer would be classed as a separate development and refused to grant the certificate. 

The report said: “While the applicant argues that the sale of pizzas would represent a minor element of the proposal, officers consider that the sale of pizzas as hot food is not an ancillary use to the shop, as the proposal would be physically separate from the existing shop with the capacity to be taken off site and function independently from the existing shop. 

“Furthermore, given that the proposal is physically separate from the shop and sited in the forecourt of the shop, it cannot be considered to from part of that so-called experience of the shop, and therefore would be considered separate from the shop, with customers of the catering trailer not required to pass through the shop to access the trailer. 

“For instance, while the forecourt is currently used for the sale of bulkier items, shoppers are required to enter the shop in order to purchase these items. 

“Their siting in the forecourt can therefore be considered ancillary to the shop. 

“Altogether, given the siting and independent nature of the proposal it is the opinion of officers as a matter of fact and degree that the proposal cannot be considered to be ancillary to the shop.”