Devastated couple fear Burnley kennels ' business they bought with life savings on brink of closure after complaints made about dogs barking

A petition in support of James and Sarah Seed, who only bought Kitty Catz Cattery and Kennels in October last year, has gathered a staggering 1,801 signatures in just six days.

The couple have appealed against the order and have launched a fund raising campaign to help with the costs of fighting the case.

Sarah said: "It has now reached the point where we will have to fight this matter in the courts and invest in a good solicitor to help us and pay court costs.

"We are looking at around £20,000, and, as a small business, we just cannot afford this so we are appealing for help to fund our court case.

"We need to keep this service as a lot of people heavily rely on us for pet care."

The Seeds fulfilled a lifelong dream when they used their life savings to buy the business that has been established for 25 years.

But they were crushed when, just three weeks after buying the Greenhead Lane business, they were informed that it was being investigated by Pendle Council's Environmental Health Department for causing a potential noise nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act of 1990 after complaints were made by neighbours about dogs barking.

This resulted in a three month sound monitoring test for noise in which the results found there was no noise nuisance. However, the council then ruled the business did not have planning permission for Doggy Day Care which resulted in the Seeds having to stop this service, which had been running for the past 15 years, in May.

Sarah added: "This caused great disappointment for customers as some of them used us as they are front line workers.

"In the 15 years the service has run there has never been any complaints about the noise."

The Seeds applied for a Certificate of Lawfulness to carry on running the Doggy Day Care and the application then went before the council but was refused by the committee on the grounds that it could not distinguish between boarding and doggy day care.

The latest blow came last week when they received a letter from Pendle Council informing them of the notice.

In a statement released by Pendle Council Philip Mousdale, who is the council’s Corporate Director, said: “Last week, one of our Environmental Health Officers visited Robin Hall Cottage Kennels to investigate complaints about barking dogs.

“As a result of our visit we have served the kennels with a noise abatement notice under the Environmental Protection Act.”

Noise abatement notices are issued into complaints about issues that may be considered a 'statutory nuisance'.

Sarah said: "This is our family home and dream business that we are now at risk of losing.

"We feel victimised and harassed and for providing s a much needed service for many people and we are highly praised by all our customers.

"We are grateful to the people who have sent us messages of support and signed the petition, it means a lot to us to know that so many are behind us."