The boss of a Bradford filling station staged a forecourt sit-in after petrol company reps locked him out of his shop.

Iram Mughal, who has managed the Save petrol station at Spencer Road, Clayton, since 1993, refused to leave his business after being told to quit by the company.

He claims he has been given no notice to quit and the first he knew of it was when he arrived at the premises to find company representatives on site, changing the locks.

He rang 999 and sent for the police, complaining to officers that the firm had "stormed in" to his business and seized the stock.

The 26-year-old, who also runs the News Parade newsagents in Shipley, said he felt he was being victimised by the Save company since publicly criticising them in the Telegraph & Argus last September. He spoke out in the wake of the fuel protests because he claimed Save was slow in refilling his pumps while rival filling stations cleaned up.

The Save company is in administrative receivership and is being managed by accountants Ernst and Young. Save said it terminated his licence in accordance with his contract - but would not elaborate as to why.

"The company has just stormed in and seized my stock, for no reason at all," said Mr Mughal. "They have cordonned off the site and stopped me trading. I am refusing to move from here because they should have given me 28 days' notice. The closure of the shop means four jobs are being lost.

"I have a licence to sell their petrol, but all of the other stock - all the ice cream in the freezers and such - is mine. They won't let me take it away, and it is worth thousands of pounds."

Jamil Ismail, of Khans Solicitors, acting for Mr Mughal, said: "They are alleging that Mr Mughal has breached the terms of his licence but when we tried to ascertain from Save's legal representative what the alleged breach was, they wouldn't tell us.

"I think it would have been better if they'd notified us beforehand if they thought there had been a breach, giving Mr Mughal a chance to remedy it.''

Nathaniel Meyer, for Ernst and Young, said: "Save Service Stations Limited is in administration. In accordance with its pre-administration policy, the company may, for commercial reasons, immediately terminate the rights of an operator. The right to take this action is contained in the contractual arrangements between the parties.

"In this instance, Mr Mughal's licence has been terminated in accordance with the contractual agreement he had with Save. We understand that Mr Mughal is presently in the process of removing his stock and effects from the shop.

"Notwithstanding the termination of Mr Mughal's agreement, the administrators emphasise that this site will continue to be operational."