DISCIPLINARY action has not been taken against Burnley council officers whose lack of action on a cafe contract could cost the town thousands of pounds in lost rent.

An internal inquiry has found mistakes were made when the council allowed present tenant Mary Burrows and her partner to take over the Stables restaurant and cafe in Towneley Park in 1996 - without a binding agreement that the premises would be subject to open tender this year.

That allowed Mrs Burrows to assert she was a secure tenant and forced the authority to scrap the tendering process - rejecting five higher bids, one of them £10,000 a year more than the present occupiers are offering.

The inquiry report, by the council's director of support services, Susan Walsh, goes to members of the recreation and leisure committee tonight and is critical of the roles of two officers who have not been named.

Officer A, it states, was wrong to allow the tenants into occupation without first signing the appropriate documentation, was wrong in the way he believed the situation should be handled, had a lack of knowledge of the relevant case law and was unaware of the extent of the risk he was taking. He did not approach the council's legal services unit for advice or assistance.

However, he was working in what he felt was the best interests of the council, was under considerable pressure to achieve an early letting and had no reason to doubt the new tenants would sign the documentation when presented with it, says Mrs Walsh.

His line manager, Officer B, ought to have kept a closer watch on the issue, particularly bearing in mind its sensitivity.

However, she had a heavy workload, had assumed their boss, the Service Unit Manager, was personally involved and had no reason to doubt the capability of Officer A, says the report.

Mrs Walsh said in her report: "For these reasons I have not felt it appropriate to take any disciplinary action but I have made the officers aware of my serious concerns about the way the matter was handled and I have agreed with them procedures and actions designed to ensure that there are no similar future occurrences."

Mrs Burrows reported the council to the Ombudsman for its handling of the issue - but the complaint was not pursued, the Ombudsman ruling it was not a matter over which she had jurisdiction.

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