THE proprietor of a Runfold antiques business under threat of closure has made an eloquent plea in the Waverley council chamber for a stay of execution. Hilary Burroughs, of The Antiques Warehouse, put her case in the time allocated for public questions and backed it up with a petition bearing 5,311 signatures. She and her husband Peter have been running the business for 11 years from two Elizabethan barns leased from Badshot Lea Farm, but only with the benefit of temporary planning consent, now expired. A letter received from Waverley two months ago warned that unless retail operations ceased, enforcement action would follow. "Why is my business being targeted for enforcement when we are the smallest, quietest and most environmentally friendly business in the area?" she asked councillors. "We have improved these ancient barns at our own expense. Why are we now being singled out by the planning system?" Mrs Burroughs explained that the business had operated under a temporary consent in their own names for four years. "This was granted so that we would have the time to prove whether the business was a nuisance to the environment. Not one of the original fears expressed at the time has any grounding. "Instead we have had accolades heaped upon us and have been held up as a shining example of how to make sensitive and appropriate use of historic barns. We have featured on numerous national TV programmes and have had glowing articles written about us." Mrs Burroughs spoke of the "small army" of local craftspeople that benefited from association with the business and the local antique dealers provided with space. "We have put on demonstrations of traditional crafts, encouraged local artists and supported the local theatrical groups by lending antique props. "We are also active members of Hidden Britain, a government-sponsored body whose aim is to bring more people into Farnham and its surrounding areas." Mrs Burroughs explained how, when temporary permission expired, her landlord twice attempted to gain permission in his own name and failed. Later negotiations saw a new roof for the barn, at a rough cost of £85,000, suggested as a condition if consent were granted. Mrs Burroughs claimed the barn is already completely watertight and that neither her landlord nor her business can absorb the cost. "I ask you to consider my predicament," she appealed, claiming there could be no more sympathetic use of the property. "Enforcement officers must demonstrate harm in order to take action. By taking such arbitrary action against our business, who or what will be protected?" A Waverley Council spokesman confirmed that The Antiques Warehouse was now trading illegally, as temporary planning permission expired 18 months ago, but that Mrs Burroughs had not yet been served with an enforcement notice. The spokesman added that in order for the situation to be resolved, an application would need to be submitted by Mrs Burroughs' landlord. "It is between her and her landlord," The Herald was told.