A HUDDERSFIELD businessman is preparing to report Kirklees Council to the Local Government Ombudsman following the collapse of his popular town centre tea rooms.

Mr Gerrard John, proprietor of Gerry’s at Neaversons, claims that he has received “brutal” treatment from the council.

He has been negotiating with Kirklees for the last six months to try to reach a satisfactory outcome.

He lodged an official complaint with the Corporate Customer Standards Officer and has just heard that, as far as the council is concerned, the matter is over.

Kirklees officers boarded up the premises at 4 Byram Street in Huddersfield town centre last November, after he had run up debts of £30,000.

Mr John, 39, who lives in Waterloo, freely admits the debts, but claims that much of this was accrued in repairs to the Grade I listed building, which should have been the responsibility of the landlord – in this case, Kirklees Council.

“There is not a day goes by when I don’t see some of my customers asking what went wrong. They think I was a failure and that is so not the truth.

“I contacted Mark Gregory, head of corporate property, on the Wednesday and he said he would discuss the matter with colleagues. The next thing, I heard banging from the basement and they were changing the locks on the door and evicting me with no explanations.”

He added: “I will persist with this and if I don’t get any joy with the council, I will take it to the Ombudsman.”

A Kirklees Council spokesman said: “The council’s complaints officer has made a thorough investigation of the complaints made by the former proprietor in relation to the business in Byram Street and has concluded that the council’s actions did not lead to the failure of the business which was already heavily in debt.

“No further action will be taken with regards to Mr John’s complaint”.