THE more I look into it, the more alarmed I am at how Knutsford Town Council have handled the removal of their previous tenant at King Street.

They say this in response to my letter, on their website: “The former tenant, La Belle Epoque Limited is now in liquidation; the company entered this owing the Town Council just over £67,000, primarily for legal fees incurred by the Town Council in seeking to enforce the lease. Towards the end of the tenancy La Belle Epoque Limited had been failing to pay rent on time for almost three years and had been frustrating the council’s ability to undertake essential maintenance.

While the Town Council took no pleasure in terminating the lease with the company we did so in the long-term interests of our taxpayers.”

So what they have admitted is that they mishandled the tenant to such an extent that it cost the council £67,000 in legal fees to remove them? So this is the real cause of the council being out of pocket by £70,000, that they were profligate in their spending on legal fees without regard to taxpayers and how they could cope with any increased spending.

If the council had treated their tenant right in the first place, they would not have got into this disgraceful situation. The fact is that the council wanted to do the maintenance when the Belle Epoque had functions planned, and that is why it wasn’t convenient.

Would you want to book a beautiful venue for your wedding to find it covered in scaffolding and workmen around on your big day?

Of course not, hence the tenant offered alternative dates for the work that the council would not contemplate. He stopped paying rent for a while in an attempt to force the council to do the maintenance that badly needed doing. In response, the council unleashed its barristers on him at a cost of £67,000 to council taxpayers.

Brian Dobbs Knutsford