West Park tea rooms ‘forced to shut’ says angry Wolverhampton trader
The woman who launched the tea room at West Park claims she has been forced out by 'unfair' council landlords.
Lynn Jones, aged 64, has been told she must start paying an annual £2,000 bill, plus £500 maintenance, for the burglar and fire alarms at the listed Wolverhampton Council-owned venue.
The financial hit follows a £13,000 loss in earnings after the council allowed an ice-cream van to trade in the park last summer.
A Friends of West Park Tea Rooms Facebook page launched last week by customer Hayley Jarvis, of the Jolly Joggers running group, had more than 10,000 hits in its first 24 hours.
Mrs Jones, who started up the tea room 13 years ago, said: "I can't afford to run it anymore, I'm so angry. I feel that I've been treated abominably. When I try to find out why, the iron curtain comes down.
"Since giving them notice that I'm having to give up the lease, they've emailed me that I've got to be out by February 4. It's so upsetting after all these years. I set up the tea room and bought all the furniture for it.
"It's been popular with walkers, runners, the elderly and cyclists. I've built up a lot of memories over the years."
A Wolverhampton Council spokesman said today: “The tenant’s lease is not due to expire until September 2018 but she chose to trigger the three-month termination notice on her lease at the end of last year.
“As a council, we are supportive of the tenant, who provides a valuable community asset, remaining on site.
“To that effect, we have recently contacted her to review the current lease and support, in principle, incentives to help her remain as the tenant.”
A senior Wolverhampton Council officer has since visited Mrs Jones to see if they can resolve the situation.
