A top Aberdeen retailer has offered to help fund a legal fight against the council's baffling bus gate fiasco, The Press and Journal has reported.

Norman Esslemont, the boss of menswear mainstay Esslemonts, was one of the many backers of the Common Sense Compromise on bus gates proposed by groups including Aberdeen & Grampian Chamber of Commerce and the P&J.

Despite having the support of business leaders and close to 12,000 residents though, councillors voted to ignore the compromise proposal and make the bus gates permanent.

Now, the P&J reports Mr Esslemont has said he would be "happy to chip in" for any potential legal battle against the bus gate scheme.

The trader, who has seen his profits plummet since the bus gates were introduced despite his store lying outside the city centre, told the newspaper: “We just don’t get the same amount of customers from Aberdeenshire.

“And I do blame the council for that. I personally think these measures are a misguided concept and a total waste of time."

Read the full article on the P&J website.

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