OFFICIALS will decide in September whether Burnley Council will be ordered to find £20,000 after a cafe mysteriously avoided paying business rates.
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) is investigating after the Lancashire Telegraph revealed the Stables coffee shop, in Towneley Park, had not paid its fees for at least eight years.
A council officer said last week the absence of the Stables on the VOA list was an ‘anomaly’ arising from its position in ‘historic’ Towneley Park.
However, the VOA has said that if it decides the Stables should be on its list, it will invoice Burnley Council for the backdated rates.
Experts have estimated that the council would have to find around £20,000 for the last eight years.
The management at the Stables, which leases the premises from Burnley Council, has refused to comment.
Burnley Council has said listing properties to pay business rates is the responsibility of the VOA.
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