The owner of a pizza van in Buckinghamshire has been ‘forced’ to close after his permit was refused.

Ahmed Morjane, 33, a chef from Italy, has been running his Hungry Yasmine pizza van from private a car park in Chesham since early March.

However, the tucked away location meant he was “struggling” to attract enough customers to cover his costs, leading him to seek a licence from Buckinghamshire Council to move his pizza van onto Market Street.

To his disappointment, the council refused the application on the grounds of road safety.

Ahmed took to social media to OurChesham Facebook group to let his fans know the business would shut following the decision.

Since the closure, he has been flooded with messages from former customers, Ahmed said.

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He said: “I’ve been working as a chef for a long time and afterwards I would open a restaurant. It was my step towards this.

“Everyone who tried the pizza was very happy about it.

“I grew up in Italy and used to work with sourdough. I wasn’t selling junk food, it was really good stuff with quality ingredients.

“I’ve received lovely messages asking why I’ve closed but I needed to earn a bit more than that.

He had no hard feelings for the councillors who opposed his van, and he was already hatching a plan to raise more money, learn about business and return, Ahmed said.

“I just wanted to let people know I’ve closed.

“I’m disappointed of course. I was hoping to do it but I wasn’t ready as well,” he admitted.

“I will definitely lose money but it’s an experience and I’m learning from it.

“What happened makes me a bit stronger and next time I can do better!”

He has now returned to his previous job at Darvells’ family bakery, who allowed him to use their car park to launch Hungry Yasmine in the first place.

“The owners are amazing people.

“They tried to help me even if I worked for them they tried to help me and I really appreciate them, which is why I’m returning to them.”

Bucks Council’s cabinet member for housing and regulatory services Mark Winn said the council had “fully considered” the application, including representations for and against.

He said: “The application has been refused primarily due to road safety concerns.

"The siting of the business in the location outlined in the application would have a significant effect on road safety and conflicts with existing traffic orders and waiting restrictions in the area.

“While the council is supportive of local businesses it cannot authorise permission to trade where there is a clear hazard to members of the public.

"The trading unit would cause a clear obstruction for both pedestrians and motorists and so permission to trade has been refused.”