THE owner of a fledgling restaurant says Borough of Poole rates are “crippling” his business.

Ali Khan, the proprietor of the Cococabana restaurant at Canford Heath’s Adastral Square, has been hit with a £3,000 bill just weeks after opening.

“I’ve asked the Borough of Poole to give me some time to get the business up and running, but they don’t care about the small businessman,” he said.

“I was told I have to pay my business rates up until the end of the financial year, despite not even doing £10 of business at that time.”

He moved into the premises last November, then opened weeks later after refurbishment.

Mr Khan said: “The problem is, despite hearing about all this supposed help out there, there is no real help for small businesses.

“When I contacted the council to ask for them to wait a while until my business could get going, I was pretty much told they were going to sue me.

“I told them I’d invested all my money in getting the business to this point, but I was warned they could start proceedings that could see my restaurant being confiscated,” he said.

“We are trying to improve the situation of the people here, especially as the Co-op closed last year, but the government and local councils must help small businesses,” he added.

Mr Khan has written to Prime Minister David Cameron and Poole MP Robert Syms, asking for help, but has received no replies to date.

Borough of Poole head of revenues Alan Fletcher said: “Non domestic rates are collected by local authorities on behalf of central government.

“We check to see if there may be entitlement to a discount or relief and refer ratepayers to the Valuation Office Agency if they feel that their rates are too high.”