A HAIRDRESSER has been fined hundreds of pounds after a council said it found hair and a bank statement in a public bin.

Barber Hossein Hamdollahi denies the claims and says this is one of “a large number of ways Brighton and Hove City Council is strangling” businesses in the city.

Mr Hamdollahi said he and his team work hard but face an uphill struggle to survive as they contend with almost £3,000 a month in business rates and declining visitor numbers to their shop in Duke Street, Brighton.

He has received a string of letters from the authority, starting from the date of the alleged offence in September, saying he must pay a £300 fixed penalty notice and failure to pay this is “a criminal offence”.

Earlier this month he received a court summons saying that “should you not attend, the court will be requested to issue a warrant for your arrest”.

Mr Hamdollahi said: “They are harassing us. It has been going on for three or four months now.

“They are saying they found one of our bank statements and some hair in the bin. We don’t throw our bank statements in the public bin.

“We collect the hair separately and it’s used as fertiliser. I have shown them proof but they say it is not enough.”

He said he did “not acknowledge” the court summons he had been sent and, instead, said he was considering taking the council to a small claims court.

The 47-year-old said: “The fine is £300, I am happy to go to court over this.

“If they think they deserve this money, you have to go to court.

“They keep sending us very aggressive letters calling me a criminal. It’s not the council’s place to call people criminals. If I have done something criminal then police should be involved.”

Mr Hamdollahi said the fine, and the stress this was causing him, only added to difficulties he faced running a business in the city.

He said: “I pay just under £3,000 in business rates each month, it’s ridiculous, that is the main thing that makes it hard for businesses.

“But also the trains are terrible and the car parking, so not many people come to the city at the weekend any more.

“The amount of homeless people on the street, the council doesn’t do anything.

“I am not against them but there must be a better way to deal with it. People don’t come to Brighton any more.

“Duke Street used to be the best street in Brighton with no empty shops.

“Now there are about nine empty shops here, in the ‘best street in Brighton and Hove’.

“But the council are trying to push us out, they are strangling us.”

A council spokesman said: “We are very aware that it is a difficult trading environment nationally for retailers at the moment.

“However, Brighton and Hove is bucking the national trend in that the proportion of empty retail units here is way below the national average.

“We believe that overall the independent retail sector here offers incredible variety and is the envy of virtually every other town and city in the country.

“Over the last few months we have been offering bespoke coaching to independent retailers to help increase footfall and sales. So far the feedback we’ve had for this has been very positive.

“The new Business and Intellectual Property Centre that will soon open at the Jubilee Library will further support the local business community by offering workshops, business coaching and advice services to start-up and established businesses.

“With regards to the enforcement action we have taken, this matter is currently before the courts.

“It will be for the courts to determine whether or not this person has appropriate arrangements in place for the disposal of his trade waste.”