A SHOP owner is being forced to remove a mannequin dressed as a soldier from the front of his Bolton store — because of recent armed robberies in the area.

Hamid Shahabi says the life-size figure is there to represent brave troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and to raise awareness of the Help the Heroes charity.

But a town hall officer has threatened him with enforcement action and a fine if he does not move the dummy, which is outside Arms and Outdoors in Halliwell Road, Halliwell.

The council says staff from Lloyds TSB bank next door, who were recently subject to an armed raid, are suffering flashbacks when they see the dummy.

Mr Shahabi, aged 53, said: “It is insulting to the soldiers who are out there putting their lives on the line. It has nothing to do with armed robberies in the area — it is disgraceful. The soldier looks nothing like an armed robber.

“Children who walk past the shop love him. They stop and shake his hand and take pictures with him.”

In a letter to Mr Shahabi, the council told him the dummy was causing a lot of “ill feeling” among local businesses.

The council said it had to take these views into account, considering the large number of armed raids that had recently taken place in Halliwell.

Lloyds TSB was targeted in February this year when three masked men charged into the bank armed with a sledgehammer, a crowbar and another weapon.

No one has been arrested or charged in connection with the attack.

Mr Shahabi’s shop sells outdoor clothing, camping equipment, fishing and hunting gear, as well as guns and ammunition.

The owner says his store remains secure at all times and he only sells guns and ammunition to customers with the correct licence and paperwork.

The business moved its premises from further along Halliwell Road two months ago. There have been no other complaints about the figure in the five years he has had the shop.

Yesterday, most businesses said they did not object to the “unarmed soldier” standing outside the store.

Nouman Jewellers, in Halliwell Road, which was the target of an armed raid just two months ago, said the figure was doing no harm.

Sana Khan said: “The soldier has been there for a long time but the robberies have only started recently. I don’t think it is a problem. I think the robbers have just picked this area.”

Deborah Jones, manager of pram shop Mum’s Mate, added: “I don’t think it has caused a problem. All he has done is moved his shop. The bank was robbed before he moved there.”

June Chow, of Chow’s Fish and Chips added: “It is not a problem for us but I can understand how the bank feels. I can appreciate that the soldier might intimidate them.”

A council spokesman said: “The officer has 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 mannequin would provoke people to carry out armed raids, nor was he in any way undermining the work of our British troops.

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

Lloyds TSB declined to comment.

steven.thompson@ theboltonnews.co.uk