An Enfield MP said the council is not doing enough to protect small businesses in Palmers Green in a heated debate this morning.

MP for Enfield, Southgate, David Burrowes, said the shops along Green Lanes in Palmers Green are being “ignored” by the council and that changes must be made to protect them from closing down.

He told Councillor Achilleas Georgiou, who also attended the small conference held at a drycleaning shop which has been badly hit by the recession and high business rates, that Enfield Council should provide subsidies, known as hardship relief, for struggling businesses.

He said free parking for stays of up to 20 minutes should be implemented to encourage people driving past the shops to “pop by.”

He also suggested that money from Enfield Council’s riot fund should be allocated to business owners who have lost business since the unrest last August, even if the area itself was not directly affected by the disorder.

He said: “The reality is that this area has been hit very hard.

“This has been a problem for a number of years now, the business rates in this high street are too high.

"This high street feels ignored. The business owners are not being heard.

“What it comes down to is the previous government who set the business rates in April 2009, but there is a world of difference to what life is now.”

Cllr Georgiou said the parking charges along Green Lanes were intended to encourage more people to come to the area by keeping traffic moving rather than allowing people to park along the street all day.

He said he was happy to speak to the council about the potential for free parking in the area, although what is important is business rate relief from high business rates, which are currently set by central government.

Costas Karanikki, who owns Finesse dry cleaners in Green Lanes where the meeting took place, said something has to be done otherwise he will be forced to close the business.

Mr Karanikki, who has run the shop for 23 years with his wife, said he works 60 hours a week for a joint annual wage of £10,000 because business rates are so high.

Mr Karanikki, who pays £471 in business rates every month, said the road works along Green Lanes for the past two years have had a negative impact on his business.

He said: “All the time I hear the politicians say they are going to help the small businesses but I never see any of that.

“The whole area has been going down over the years. No one wants to come to Palmers Green because of the road works. They avoid it like the plague.

“People are on their last legs because there is no trade.”

Ali Tum, who lives in Palmers Green and has owned Oztum grocers in Green Lanes since 1996, said this is the most difficult time the business has seen yet.

Mr Tum, who has had to make four members of staff redundant since 2010 to cut costs, said: “We are struggling. It is very hard now.

"We are not doing as well now the road has a one way system and the parking and the banks have moved from here."

He said it will help his business if the changes Mr Burrowes suggested are implemented, but the future still does not look bright.

Patrick Malone, who runs Green Lane Fisheries on his own because he can’t afford to pay staff, said he has been badly hit by the recession.

He said even if parking was free along Green Lanes between 9am and 4pm when the businesses were open, it would help.

He said: “Before the recession, businesses weren’t finding it easy and now they are finding it almost impossible.”