A barber who set up his shop just three months ago has been told it is earmarked for demolition.

Southgate Barber Shop owner Kevin Garner, 36, had no idea the building posed a serious flooding threat when he took it on and spent £5,000 on refurbishments.

Now he faces losing his business in the City Walls Car Park, Chichester, after being told councillors had decided it should be knocked down.

The building, constructed without planning permission, is on a culvert where the River Lavant flows under the city. The section of the tunnel is earmarked for reinforcement because it is more than 100 years old.

The Environment Agency fears lives would be put at risk if the culvert collapsed and the building obstructed emergency services.

But Mr Garner, a father-of-two, knew nothing of the problem until The Argus spoke to him just before the decision was taken.

He said his landlord had been told about the meeting the week before but had been unable to attend because he was away.

Mr Garner said: "I'm going to see what happens and I'm not going to worry about it. Life's too short to get stressed.

"If I have to find somewhere else I will but I'm sure the landlord will appeal.

"He wouldn't want to give it up that easily because he's even been to the High Court over this one."

Landlord Andrew Finnamore, who runs property development company Amberley House, in Eastergate Lane, Chichester, will have 28 days to appeal once the enforcement notice is issued.

He was unavailable for comment last night.

Mr Finnamore submitted an application for a smaller property on the site in 2002 which was approved by planners.

The larger building was built instead and the enforcement notice for its demolition came after Mr Finnamore ran out of time to appeal against the council's refusal to give planning permission.

A council spokes-woman said the building threatened existing flood protection measures because it made the culvert inaccessible for maintenance or repair works.

She said: "Should the structure collapse into this culverted section of the River Lavant, it is likely flooding and severe disruption would be caused, hampering the emergency services in a clearance operation. As such, the development is considered undesirable."

An Environment Agency spokeswoman welcomed the decision to demolish the building, which was made on Wednesday.

She said: "If the smaller, approved building was constructed, there would be more room for us to access from one side and the building would not need to be demolished.

"We do a lot of work to try to reduce the risk of flooding so we're committed to do what we can to make sure this work is not undone by inappropriate and unnecessary buildings like this."

Last Wednesday's report stated pumps used in 2000 to deal with flooding would not have been able to cope if the culvert had collapsed.