'Sausage Man' says health suffering after stall move

"The strain and the stress I've had to deal with isn't something I thought would affect me this badly."

It has been a month since Derby's "Sausage Man" was forced to downgrade his festive German Bratwurst cabin to a small trailer in a quieter spot.

Charlie Pearson says his health is suffering due to the stress of poor takings - and stated it will be his last festive period selling his sausages unless a compromise can be reached with the council.

Derby City Council said: "The introduction of the festive light trail means that the Corn Market site is unavailable as this site is a key area for the light trail."

Charlie claims his takings are down by about 75% in the new spot in St Peter's Street.

"It's not nearly as busy," he said.

"The German sausage stall, for so many people, is not just a German sausage stall, it's a destination."

Charlie normally has a festively-decorated cabin in Corn Market, a more central location in the city centre.

"It's become an iconic part of that part of town," he said.

"And that's been taken away from everybody."

Back in the spot where the sausage stall used to be, Charlie's absence was being felt.

"People I know have been looking for the sausages," said Alfie Grimwood, who was sitting on a bench in the now sausageless Corn Market.

"It is a massive shame. I think the council should bring Sausage Man back," he added.

His friend Aidan Pettitt said: "Can we have him back, please? Council, if you're listening, we want Sausage Man back, now."

Charlie lives in Felixstowe, Suffolk, for most of the year and makes money by serving up toasties at various festivals.

He sells hot dogs in Derby for three months every year, something he has been doing for the last 14 years.

He normally pays a pitch fee to Derby City Council to put his cabin outside Primark.

He applied as normal in April but the council emailed in July to tell him the site would not be available this year.

The email from the council also said he would need to apply for planning permission if he wanted to use his cabin again, "because of the length of time your temporary structure will be put up".

This was despite Charlie never being asked for planning permission in previous years.

Sausage Man's regular customers include Mireia Salinas, who is originally from Barcelona but has lived in Derby for about 20 years.

She managed to find him in his new spot but said the atmosphere in Derby city centre was not the same.

"It's so iconic isn't it, seeing him there, starting Christmas, so not seeing him there is a bit weird," she said.

"It's bad because everybody goes down there and I'm guessing he might be losing some clients because it's not a very good spot here."

Christopher Bridgwood has been buying hot dogs from Sausage Man for about five years, and only found the new location of the stall by chance.

"I thought it was a bit strange it had not popped up as early as it normally does," he said.

"If I hadn't walked past I would have just assumed it wasn't here this year."

Although his hot dog tasted as "great" as usual, Christopher felt something was missing.

"I do sort of miss the homeliness of the wooden shack," he said.

"It had its own little unique characteristic about it."

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