HYNDBURN Council’s leader has branded the actions of 1st Bowl owners ‘irresponsible’ after the alley closed unexpectedly.

Clare Pritchard made the remarks after representatives from the chain and its parent company Garland Leisure failed to publicly explain the reasons behind the decision to close the Hyndburn Road site in Accrington on September 28.

After repeated attempts by the Lancashire Telegraph to contact the the company 1st Bowl regional manager Naz Singh said that the company was unwilling to provide a comment.

According to a representative on its Facebook page the centre had suffered a temporary electrical fault and was due to re-open on September 30.

Customers who had booked games that weekend at the bowling alley were advised to contact the lanes’ sister site in Burnley.

However the shutters have remained down since then and the alley has since been removed from the 1st Bowl website along with a site in Bury. In September, Garland Leisure, which is owned by Mehdi Afshar, took over Sub Zero Ice Rink in Cleveleys.

One staff member who worked at the site said workers had lost their jobs ‘out of the blue.’ Another worker said: “I went to work on the Friday but then got a call saying that the alley wouldn’t be open the next day and that people were coming in to remove some of the stock.

“We were all incredibly shocked and saddened that it happened like that, especially as some of us have families to support.”

Coun Clare Pritchard said: “What happened is astonishing and we haven’t been able to find anything out at all.

“The owners should at least come out and put the public straight. I have a huge amount of sympathy for the workers who appear to have lost their jobs.”

Chief executive of East Lancashire Chamber of Commerce Mike Damms said: “Whether it’s closed for good or not it’s certainly not respectable business practice to not inform your customers of any alleged renovations.”