A TRUCK stop owner says his business is in jeopardy after he was told to remove an advertising board on a car.

Dennis Brosnan, 39, said since taking away the car his business had plunged by 60 per cent.

It has prompted him to sit in a layby with a sign, instead.

Mr Brosnan runs a roadside cafe on the A120 and used to promote it with a board on a car in the layby.

But he was told to remove the car or face a big fine – and says takings have plummeted as a result.

Mr Brosnan, of Chalfont Road, Colchester, said: “I moved it because the council told me I faced a £1,000 fine and £250 per day on top of that if I didn’t.

“I am not even sure it was illegal, but I cannot take the risk.

“I can’t understand why all of a sudden it had to go as it had been there so long and no one had said anything.”

The truck stop is near the Texaco garage on the Harwich-bound carriageway, near Ardleigh.

The car was a few hundred yards away for more than three years before Tendring Council wrote to Mr Brosnan advising him it was illegal.

He said: “Because of where the truck stop is, if there is no warning then people will go sailing by.

“It is essential people are given that bit of warning as a lot of the customers are not from around here.”

Mr Brosnan said he had considered giving it all up.

Regular customer Timothy McShera said he and his wife were shocked to see Mr Brosnan sitting in the layby.

He said: “I am very worried about him having to sit there just to make sure people know about the business. It is a very good cafe and it would be such a shame if it had to close.”