Business advice question:

I own a small family run restaurant that has been trading since 1983 in London W2. The title deed dates back to 1956 but the property may be older. The restaurant has a cellar with a hatch that opens into a small forecourt that is differentiated by an area of original mosaic tiles.We have never had a street trading licence as the area is over our basement and adjacent to the freehold property.We have had 3 tables and 6 chairs which have been used since opening the original restaurant in 1983 and previously the area was used for the same purpose by the previous owner. We were told that the boundary of property incorporated the forecourt. The property is set back from the pavement and does not interfere with public right of way.For the first time in 28 years the council have accused us of illegal street trading and threatened to fine us unless we pay for a street trading licence. The property title (2011)shows a boundary in red inside the black border of the property and does not appear to indicate that the forecourt belongs to us.There is obviously a problem with scale. We are one of 4 conjoined business premises on the same freehold with exactly the same set up.All businesses are restaurants with forecourts. Only 1 business appears to be exempt from the street trading licence but the owner will not reveal how this is possible. We cannot afford to spend a lot of money in a boundary dispute . Is there any document that we could request from the land registry that could indicate some previous legal arrangement which shows that the forecourt area is not public right of way as the council are insisting. Any suggestions would be very much appreciated. We don't want to trade illegally but we don't want to pay an unjust charge either.

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