Apply for a street trading licence in the Purbeck area

Street trading includes trading on the road, highway, footway, beach or other area that the public have free access to.

Street trading is not allowed within:

• the boundary of Wareham Town Council
• the boundary of Swanage Town Council, unless a street trading consent and permit has been granted by us

Beyond these boundaries street trading is not controlled, the council and the Highways Agency are able to enforce separate legislation on most major roads in the county.

Eligibility

You must be over 17 to hold a licence.

Licences will be refused if:

• there isn't enough space in the street you wish to trade in, without causing interference or inconvenience to street users
• you wish to trade for less days than any minimum required trading days
• you are unsuitable to hold a licence due to any previous convictions or for other reasons
• you have previously failed to pay fees due under another street trading licence or have failed to use a previous street trading licence

Tacit consent applies. This means that you will be able to act as though your application is granted if you have not heard from the local authority in 28 days.

View the street trading notes for applicants.

Refused applications

We will serve a notice if we intend to refuse the application, grant it on different terms than those applied for, confine trading to a particular place in a street, vary conditions of a licence or revoke a licence.

You can write to us to request the opportunity to make representations within 7 days of the notice. Contact us to discuss this.

If you wish to appeal a decision of the council you may appeal to the local Magistrates' court within 21 days of the date you were notified of the decision. You may appeal the decision of a Magistrates' Court to the local Crown Court.