Council accused of bullying business over parking row land dispute

The management of St Nicholas Bar and Grill in Shrewsbury, and the owners of the historic building, say they have been left exasperated at Shropshire Council's demands over a strip of land outside the Castle Street premises.

Eddie Uyan, the business owner, his stepdaughter and company secretary Tamara Uyan, along with the building's owners, Chris and Diane Dew, say they are prepared to go to court over the dispute – and warn it could lead to the council wasting thousands of pounds of tax-payers money.

Shropshire Council has been approached and questioned about a number of claims but declined to comment, saying only "the matter is subject to legal negotiation".

Mr Uyan said that a senior council official had visited the restaurant 18 months ago to tell them the authority wish to claim possession of a piece of land – on the north west side of the building.

The land, which runs along the wall of the building, and is next to the entrance to Shrewsbury Castle, has been used by the business and the owners for car parking for staff for a number of years.

But Mr Uyan said that as well as being told that the council wished to take the land – the official also told him any vehicle parked on the site would receive a parking ticket.

For the next two days a total of five parking tickets were issued to staff members' vehicles parked on the land.

But despite none of them being paid by the business, unusually no attempt has been made to force payment.

They have also appealed the tickets but no hearing date for the appeal has been set.

Mr Uyan suggested it is because the authority would not be able to prove its legal right to issue the tickets.

Mr Dew has shared deeds for the property which appear to show the land in possession of the land in question – along with a written clause expressing permission to park there.

Mr Uyan said there had been no consultation over what the council was suggesting and added t hat he was so surprised at the discussion that he had asked the official if he was sure he worked for the authority.

He said: "He told me the underground can still belong to you but the overground is ours. I said are you serious?

"He said if you park on there from tomorrow we will give you a ticket."

Mr Uyan said it had been suggested to them that the parking tickets could have been a tactic to stop them parking on the land so it could eventually be claimed by the council.

He added that the council had offered them the use of an alternative car parking space at Shrewsbury Castle – but they would have to pay to use it.

He said: "We are trying to find a way to communicate with them in a proper way. We are a small business and this cost us £3,000 for solicitors letters and £8k for car parking over the last 18 months."

He added: "It is bullying behaviour."

Ms Uyan said: "We want them to leave us alone and we can go back to parking on the land that belongs to our building, and if they won't leave us alone we will have to go to court and it will be public money wasted by the council."

The Shropshire Star approached the council with a number of questions about the dispute – including whether it believes it has any legitimate claim on the land in question – but it declined to offer any answer.

A spokesman for Shropshire Council said: “As the matter is subject to legal negotiation it would be inappropriate to comment. Shropshire Council will continue to communicate with interested parties through the appropriate channels.”