Dummy 'causes robbery flashbacks'

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A Bolton shop-owner has been told he must take down a mannequin of a soldier - because it is giving local bank staff flashbacks of an armed robbery.

Hamid Shahabi must remove it from the outside of his shop, Arms and Outdoors, or face a fine, the council has warned.

He said "Darren" has been in place for five years and attracts donations for the charity Help for Heroes.

A spokeswoman for Lloyds TSB, which has a branch nearby, declined to comment about the effect of the mannequin.

Mr Shahabi, 53, has refused to take down the life-size figure, which is dressed in camouflage combat gear and represents troops fighting in Afghanistan.

He has named the mannequin Darren because it looks like a friend who is in the Army.

But the council said that when a visit was made to the shop, the mannequin was dressed in dark clothing and a black balaclava.

Lloyds TSB was raided in February, and other businesses in the area have also been targeted by armed robbers.

The issue is that the mannequin is causing people to remember an upsetting incident they would rather forget Bolton Council spokeswoman

Mr Shahabi, who has received a letter of warning from the council, said: "I will not take it down.

"The local kids love him, they often come round to play with him, we get a lot of passing trade from him too.

"He's a good-looking chap. I don't understand why anyone would be scared of him, but we have received a complaint from the local bank.

"We are at war at the moment and we cannot deny the fact - if Darren helps bring in money for injured soldiers then so be it."

But a spokeswoman for Bolton Council said many local workers saw Darren in a different light.

"When [an] officer visited the premises, the dummy was dressed in drab, dark, plain clothing with a black balaclava pulled down over its head," she said.

"It did not have anything attached to it claiming support for our forces.

"The issue is that the mannequin is causing people to remember an upsetting incident they would rather forget.

Nine to five

"We have tried to respond sympathetically to a number of complaints received about the mannequin from a business and residents, following a recent armed raid on a local business.

"At no point within the letter was the officer suggesting that the dummy would provoke people to carry out armed raids, nor was he in any way undermining the work of our British troops."

But Mr Shahabi, a father-of-two, remains defiant.

"Darren doesn't move and he has never been dressed in dark clothing - he's a soldier," he said.

"He just stands there from nine to five every day."