A city bar owner has slammed the attitude of highways officials after being left knee deep in rubble.

Justin Hudson, owner of Butlers in Gloucester, has been told he’s only allowed to have a skip on the road outside his pub for 20 minutes.

“I only want it there for one day but they have point blank refused,” he said. This leaves him at his wits end as he has a beer garden full of rubbish and rubble from a £200,000 refurbishment.

The bar has been given disabled facilities, more ladies loos, a bigger and better dancefloor, cloakroom and soundproofing as well as some necessary building work. “I’m doing something to boost business in Gloucester, to give people somewhere to go and enjoy themselves but they are stopping me at every turn.”

There are double yellow lines on the road and Mr Hudson said contractors have been given around nine tickets over the past few weeks.

But when it comes to having a skip outside, he said the council was even more unhelpful.

“I told him to give the skip a parking ticket and I’d pay the fine but we’re not getting anywhere. I’ve got a pile of rubble in the beer garden which I can’t move. That pile of rubbish is a fire hazard. I can’t believe how difficult it’s being made. It’s a ‘computer says no’ attitude,” he added.

“I’ve tried several skip companies to come down and see if the work can be done in 20 minutes but it’s just not possible. To do that, we’d have to block off the pavement and I don’t think that’s right. I’m not asking them to bend the rules, I’ll happy pay any fee or a fine.”

Nick Peters, Gloucestershire Highways manager, said: “We are quite happy for Mr Hudson to have a skip outside his pub, but because of the double yellow lines we have asked him to fill it and take the contents away immediately. We are keen to support local businesses but we have strict guidelines which must be adhered to for the safety of the public and motorists.”