Lay-by safety fears mean burger shed must move

A family-run burger business is no longer allowed to trade from an A-road lay-by following claims it has "outgrown" the site.

Higgsy's burger shed on the A15 at Norman Cross in Yaxley, near Peterborough, was set up by Adam Miller and his partner Amber Higgs in a converted shipping container in 2022.

Their licence has been refused, with a Huntingdonshire District Council licensing sub-committee finding there were "serious health and safety concerns regarding number of people using facility and condition of lay-by".

At an appeal hearing on Tuesday, Miller said the business had not "outgrown the lay-by at all", adding: "We're being punished for being relatively successful."

The council had initially refused to renew Higgsy's licence in February after Cambridgeshire County Council's highways team deemed the site unsuitable for trade.

It was also noted that queues of vehicles regularly extended on to the road, creating a danger to other drivers.

During this week's appeal hearing, George Hay, from the county council, said the business had "ceased to be just an outlet for selling burgers – [it] became a destination", and that it was "becoming more popular by the day".

The hearing was also told that highways officers had offered to help the business find an alternative site.

The county council said a lean-to/gazebo with seating had been erected for customers without permission although Miller told the hearing that it had been removed.

The sub-committee found that Higgsy's "has not made repeated breaches of licensing conditions".

But it refused the appeal based on the health and safety issues raised by the highways team, and because it had no existing permission from the county council to use the land.

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