A councillor has warned businesses to comply with conservation regulations to protect the rural character of Burley-in-Wharfedale.

Councillor Matt Palmer has reported three shops to Bradford Council for allegedly breaching strict planning rules and failing to apply for permission for changes.

He claims the frontage of one shop is reminiscent of a war zone.

The parish and district councillor said there was an increasing trend for businesses to ignore the conservation area, and warned that they could be left facing substantial bills.

“It’s not acceptable for businesses to behave as if they are not part of the community and are above the law,” he said. “Residents in Burley-in-Wharfedale asked for a conservation area to protect the character of the village centre, and if businesses want to trade here they should respect that.”

Enforcement action is being followed up against the Co-op store and Spicy Ranch on Station Road and Pizza One on Main Street. A retrospective application to replace timber-framed windows with PVC at the Indian takeaway has already been rejected by planners as being “not traditional or appropriate to the site’s location on a prominent street front-age”.

Coun Palmer said: “It is not acceptable for businesses to put in a cheap plastic frontage when residents have to bear the additional cost of replacement with wooden window frames, nor is it acceptable to put up signs that are not in keeping with the area.”

John Harrison, whose business has owned the Spicy Ranch premises since 1939, said he had not been aware that the property was within the conserva-tion area and would appeal against the decision.

“We spent £4,000 on the windows and will have to spend another £2,000,” he said. “We are being criticised when everybody else seems to have got away with it.”

A spokesman from the Co-operative Group said: “We are investigating the matter and until the results are known it would not be appropriate to comment further.”