AFTER 17 years serving up fast food from his van in a retail park, Lee Blundell may soon be flipping his last burger.

He has been given notice by the owners of Aylesford Retail Park to remove his van because his right to operate there has expired.

Mr Blundell is fighting the order. It is not the first time he has been given his marching orders by owners The Junction. In 2006, the company applied to Tonbridge and Malling council to build a "food pod" at the park.

The application included removing Mr Blundell’s burger business, prompting him to launch a petition demanding that he be allowed to stay put. It was signed by more than 3,000 customers.

Mr Blundell said: "I have given blood, sweat and tears building this business up from scratch.

"In the first four years I worked seven days a week and I have built up a large base of customers. This is extremely unfair and if I am told to move I don’t know how we will cope as this business is my main income."

The father-of-five said he signed an agreement with The Junction in November 2004 which gave him a licence to run his business, Dine-Fast, from the site for three years.

That licence expired last November and in April Mr Blundell received a letter from The Junction saying he had one month to vacate the premises.

However, after consulting a solicitor, he believes that because of the length of time he has traded at the site, he may have rights to the lease under the 1984 Tenancy Act.

This would mean The Junction would not be able to order him and his four staff to leave.

He said: "Because I have been there for so long, and it is a fixed business, my solicitor says I have a good case to argue to be granted the lease. That would give me security of tenure. It is very wrong that if another burger business was allowed to operate from the site they would have access to all the custom I have spent years building up."

Mike Dee, asset manager at The Junction, said the company was planning to open a food outlet at the park.

He said: "We endeavour to respond to our customers’ needs by providing them with both quality and choice.

"Therefore we are forming a partnership with an exciting new concept, Food Shed, a quality food outlet providing an excellent range of fresh British local food."