FISH salesmen have had their chips after town hall bosses refused to give them a licence.

The Aqua Babies stall in the Mill Gate shopping centre has shut down with the loss of three jobs because of the council's decision.

Since October, they have been selling small tanks which each contain two white cloud minnows.

But a scathing vet's report about the health of the fish influenced councillors to reject their application for a pet shop licence.

However, company bosses are furious with the decision. They say they have had to lay off three people and close the stall while they consider an appeal.

But licensing bosses are unrepentant, saying the vet's report was quite clear that the fish were suffering.

Mr Andrew Melling, the vet appointed by the council, says that the fish are more suited to a tropical or southern European climate.

He says that overnight temperatures in an average house may fall below the minimum needed for the fish's survival. The fish evolved to live in fast-flowing streams in China and need currents to swim against, not the "stagnant" conditions of an Aqua Babies cell.

Mr Melling visited the Bury stall and says he found three dead fish in adjacent cells, and another with all its fish dead. "Others were emaciated, inactive and dying", he says, adding that he found dead snails in two tanks, dying weeds, and air-holes blocked off. "The fact that there was such a high proportion of dead and dying fish, plants and snails, indicates that these 'perfect ecosystems' are not stable and are not fit to be sold to inexperienced members of the public."

Mr Melling concludes: "It is my opinion that the Aqua Babies concept is being exploited for purely commercial gain and that little or no concern is given for the health and welfare of the occupants of these cells, and that the fish are suffering and dying as a direct result of this."

Mr Rob Acres, proprietor of Aqua Babies UK, denied that the company was causing cruelty to the fish.

He accused the council of being happy to bank his cheques and then holding a "kangaroo court" to decide his future.

"We have licences everywhere else we operate. I'm a pet lover, I don't think we are cruel."

Mr Acres said that the RSPCA had given verbal approval when the company first launched in England last September.

"We have other vets' reports who don't make such remarks," he said. "When you're dealing with live fish, you do get fatalities. If every pet shop or aquarium never had a dead fish, there wouldn't be one left in the country."

Mr Acres was also unhappy with the way Bury Council handled the case.

"We applied to Bury for a licence before we started operating," he said. "Officers came down to see us, we paid the money, the cheque was cashed for the licence.

"We heard nothing until three or four weeks ago, when we were told that the matter would be put to councillors, and we were given a date to appear. Then we got a letter saying the date had been changed. But as we were in America, we asked them to defer the decision. They declined to do that, so we were not able to put forward our case. They also cashed a renewal fee for the licence."

Mr Acres said he was told that he would be prosecuted if he carried on trading while any appeal went through.

Councillor Mike Connolly, chairman of the licensing panel, said the decision was based on the vet's report.

"The information we were given by the vet was that these creatures were suffering. So we felt it appropriate to refuse. "

Coun Connolly said that the postponement of the scheduled first meeting had nothing to do with this application. The panel saw no good reason to defer the decision at its second meeting.

"We took the view that the matter had been brought to our attention that the fish were suffering. If it had been cats and dogs suffering, we would have been criticised for not acting immediately."

He added: "There's nothing to stop him asking us to reconsider. If he wants to come back and present evidence and say that these creatures are not suffering, the panel will certainly listen to him."