A COUNCIL is to repossess a cafe in the grounds of a historic hall after Court of Appeal judgement.

The decision allows Burnley Borough to reclaims the Old Stables Café at Towneley Park from its current tenants.

The local authority now plans to reopen the eaterie.

The ruling by the Court of Appeal confirms Judge Mark Halliwell's decision last year that tenants Mohammed Majeed Faiz and Shakeela Faiz breached the conditions of their lease by subletting the premises to SASSF Limited without properly informing the council.

They had argued both in the High Court in Manchester and the Court of Appeal that by accepting payments from SASSF limited the council had waived its right of forfeiture of the lease.

But the judges - Lord Justice Kim Lewison, Lady Justice Sarah Asplin and Lord Justice Richard Arnold - ruled that Burnley Council had not known of the subletting when it accepted the payments.

Therefore it had retained the right to reclaim the lease and the cafe from the tenants.

This confirmed the conclusions reached by Judge Halliwell in February last year.

A Burnley Council statement on Facebook said: "Following a judgment in the Court of Appeal, Burnley Council is securing possession of the Old Stables Café at Towneley Park following a breach of the lease.

"Details on the re-opening of the café will be provided in due course"

Judge Halliwell had ruled that Mr and Ms Faiz 'must be taken to have been aware they had entered into the 2017 sublease in breach of covenant and there was a risk the council would thus take steps to forfeit the lease'.

SASSF Limited was the third company involving the family to run the cafe.

Dismissing the appeal Lord Justice Lewison said: "The Council did not know that it was accepting rent that accrued due before the date of the breach. The acceptance of the payment did not, therefore, amount to a waiver of the forfeiture.”

The decision received a mixed reception on Facebook with some posts welcoming the decision.

But Karen Hardman said: "Such a shame. Lovely cafe friendly owners and nice polite staff that have worked there many years, really hope their jobs are safe."

Gaz Ali posted: "What a shame ..was a well run establishment.Family built it up over 18yrs and now have nothing."

Barron Frost said: "That place has been run so well, food and drinks always brilliant and the service great as well."