New row over shop rent

They claim Adur District Council has completely ignored their views on the proposed rises and has imposed arbitration on them.

Traders face rent increases of up to 60 per cent for their shops in Southwick Square, Southwick.

The council is currently holding a rent review for all its properties following a five-year freeze and will decide in February by how much they should rise.

Many shopkeepers fear they will have to close because they cannot afford big increases as a result of losing business to superstores at the nearby Holmbush Centre.

After a series of public meetings, councillors gave the traders three options to chose from and said the case would go to arbitration if agreement was not reached.

Glenys Lewis-Ford, owner of the square's post office, called on the council to hold "meaningful negotiations" with traders at a meeting of its executive policy board on Tuesday night.

The ruling Conservative Independent Alliance decided it would take the dispute to binding arbitration.

Mrs Lewis-Ford said: "We are absolutely furious that the council has completely ignored everything we have said to them.

"We are going to report them to the ombudsman over the way they have dealt with this.

"It was clear from the way the decision was made last night that the executive policy board had already made its mind up about what was going to happen.

"It did not really matter what our views were because they had decided that they were going to impose this on us anyway."

A council spokesman said: "Their views have not been ignored.

"A series of open public meetings were held as part of the consultation over the rents and they had representatives at those meetings.

"The council has now decided to have the rents decided by independent assessors appointed by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.

"The decision will be binding and the shopkeepers in Southwick Square will then have to pay the increased rents which result."