A BUSINESS owner given thousands of pounds in compensation after being served notice by Oswestry Town Council says the authority has ‘lessons to learn’.

Charles Roberts and wife Carol – who operated the cafe in the Heritage Centre in Church Street for more than two decades – were awarded a substantial undisclosed sum in damages after issuing a legal challenge against the notice to vacate the premises this summer.

Last week the council began the process of finding a new occupier for the building, after the challenge to the plans was concluded, and Mr Roberts said he was not intending to apply to reopen the cafe at the premises.

But he also said he was disappointed that the action had to be taken, and that he felt that the settlement payment could have been put to better use in supporting the people of Oswestry by investing in the town.

“The figure is in the thousands and it’s cost the Oswestry tax payer,” he said.

“There are so many things in the town that could be paid for by this money.”

Mr Roberts believes the taxpayer in Oswestry has been penalised by a lack of ‘homework’ from Oswestry Town Council about how they could serve notice on the couple.

He added: “The lesson here is that they should do their homework before they take a major decision that would destroy a business enterprise, that was well supported, and part of a community.

“I could understand if we’d abandoned it and nothing was happening.

“To do that was ridiculous, so the lesson is that they do their homework and stop spending the ratepayers money – thousands of pounds – because they didn’t investigate what legally they could do.

“For us now, we will reflect on the good times we had there but we won’t be going back.

“There’s no point in trying to recreate a business after it’s been closed for 12 months or so as it’s too much to ask to start building that again.

“It would cost us money.”

A spokesman for Oswestry Town Council said: “The council issued a press release regarding the future of the building last week and are pleased with the response.”