The applicants had constructed kiosks on the highway with permission from the local authority under the 1990 Act. They also had licences under the 1980 act to operate as street traders. The authority later complained that the sales from the structures were not street sales, and the licences were not valid.
Held: The licensing system was intended to supplement the law of nuisance, by proscribing street trading falling short of nuisance. Trading from such structures was not street trading, and was not regulated under the 1990 Act. It was not appropriate to decide the question of whether an offence had occurred, by looking at tiny questions of when in time the sales took place. There was no promise to be implied allowing the traders a licence, or that they should be granted a lease. Nevertheless, there was an estoppel against the local authority which had represented that a licence would continue for 22 years, and it would be held to it.
Judges:
Peter Gibson, Chadwick, Longmore LLJ
Citations:
Gazette 27-Feb-2002, Times 04-Mar-2002, [2002] EWCA Civ 229, [2002] LLR 329
Links:
Statutes:
London Local Authorities Act 1990 21(1), Highways Act 1980 Part VIIA
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Local Government, Licensing, Nuisance, Estoppel
Updated: 02 September 2022; Ref: scu.167710
