Businessman Leonard Yeo has threatened to chain himself to his shop front rather than see his security shutters removed.

Mr Yeo made his threat after planning councillors ordered the shutters to be taken down from his perfume shop on the corner of St Helen's Square and Coney Street in York.

He said: "If I have to chain myself to the railings, I will. I will fight it all the way."

Mr Yeo, owner of Burgins Perfumery, put up the shutters without planning permission and told councillors that his insurance company was threatening to withdraw cover for broken glass and burglary if he did not have them.

He claimed his shop, a Grade II listed building, was the most targeted shop for vandalism in the city centre and produced a letter from Inspector Tim Madgwick, of York Police, supporting shutters as a crime prevention measure.

He said that if the shutters went, his insurance cover would be withdrawn and he would be out of business within six months.

Removable grills or shutters inside the window would not be possible because of the size and shape of the window, he said.

Coun Martin Brumby said every member of the city centre planning committee had sympathy for Mr Yeo's position but said that there was a policy against outside shutters in historic areas of York.

"There are alternative means of providing security to the shop and what's been done up to now is totally inappropriate," he said.

David Johnson, development control officer, said that if permission were given to the shutters, than the council would have no grounds to refuse future similar applications for shutters.

Coun Gerald Dean proposed that the shutters should be painted or "dipped" to match the bronze colour of the window frames in the adjoining former Barclays Bank building, but his idea was defeated.

Coun Dave Merrett said the shop should try indoor shutters as potential thieves would know they could not steal anything and Coun Brumby suggested internal CCTV and said the amount of external CCTV in that location should be investigated.

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