Sutton-in-Ashfield: 'Cherished' cafe's rent could soar to £7,000

David Kingsley, 40, has benefitted from working with Rumbles staff Grace Mitchell and Anneliese Fletcher

A community café has warned it will face eviction if its rent rises from £50 a year to £7,000.

Rumbles offers employment opportunities to people with learning disabilities in Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.

However, the lease of the not-for-profit café's building - from Ashfield District Council - is to change from a nominal fee to a more expensive commercial one.

The council said it had to get best value for taxpayers.

Rumbles now fears it will be forced to leave the property, in The Lawns, where it has been based for 16 years.

The charity said the council also wanted it to start paying full utility costs and take on the cost of running public toilets in the building.

The council said it had to get the best value for taxpayers

Friends of Rumbles group spokeswoman Rhea Keehn said: "The burden the council wants to put on the café is just not one it can take.

"While the café might be able to manage £7,000, the utility costs it faces and the upkeep of the public toilets is unaffordable.

"The worst-case scenario is eviction and the end of a cherished service that makes a huge difference to the prospects of people with learning difficulties.

"And if it can somehow stay open, it will not be able to offer as many placements."

A council spokesman said the café had declined highly subsidised terms for a new tenancy.

He said cuts in government funding meant the authority could no longer afford to subsidise a profitable commercial café.

"The council has a duty to obtain best value for taxpayers and the new terms offered are extremely favourable," he said.

"It remains committed to safeguarding public services such as the toilet facilities."