A CAR boot sale organiser has attacked licensing laws which, he claims, are creating an "unlevel playing field" for businesses in the area.

Shaun Hoyles, whose company Hoyles Promotions runs the weekly Clitheroe Auction Mart car boot sale, believes that unlicensed competitors who operate throughout the summer at sites off the A59 are affecting licensed counterparts.

The auction mart's Sunday sale is fully licensed, while those on the A59 are subject to a legislative loophole which enables them to operate up to 14 times a year without official licensing.

Mr Hoyles believes his competitors are creating traffic and safety issues in the process.

He said: "It's affecting legitimate business throughout the Ribble Valley.

"It's creating an unlevel playing field, and it's becoming unfair.

"Our event gets hijacked on a regular basis. We run every Sunday for 50 weeks a year and then, in the summer, they set up on the side of the road and they get to customers before they even get to us.

"Public safety is also at risk. There have been fatalities around the Sawley area before and I don't know how they can run it without traffic measures being in place. It puts the public in danger."

Mr Hoyles added that mud from the field sites was causing further hazards on the Valley's roads, with almost an inch deposited after certain events this summer.

Chief executive of Ribble Valley Council, David Morris, responded by saying the council's "hands are tied" with regards to licensing these events.

"The planning legislation allows them to host 14 events in a year.

"They do move from field to field and manipulate the legislation, but we track them so when they have had the 14 they can't have any more.

"The road safety issues are one of the major concerns to consider for the future of such events in the Ribble Valley, and on the A59," he said.

Mr Morris added that members of the council, police, Environment Agency and trading standards were meeting this week to look at the legislation and criteria applied to events such as car boot sales, rallies, and music concerts which take place in the Ribble Valley.

Sgt Stuart Isherwood, of Accrington road policing unit, said: "The situation at Sawley is something we have been looking into and we realise that car boot sales are as much of a danger as any other event."