Whitby restaurant The Star Inn the Harbour 'was helped', council says

The Star Inn the Harbour in Whitby is to close on 12 November, its owners say

Scarborough Borough Council has defended its record following claims it has not done enough to keep a Michelin-listed restaurant open.

Whitby's The Star Inn the Harbour will close on 12 November, co-owner Andrew Pern has announced.

Mr Pern previously labelled the local authority "greedy" for collecting rent when the country was in Covid lockdown.

A senior councillor told a full council meeting on Monday the authority had done everything it could to help.

Chef and co-owner Andrew Pern claims the business was not adequately supported by the council during the pandemic

Mr Pern said the decision to shut the restaurant five years after it opened was taken with "a heavy heart".

He explained he and co-owner Mike Green had fought hard to keep trading, and accused the council of having "damaged our chances of survival".

Mr Pern claimed "the single main reason" the restaurant was to close was "the almost utter lack of support" from Scarborough Borough Council during Covid.

He said the business had received two months' Covid-related business support, adding the "most damaging" feature was the council's decision to collect rent "when we didn't have a penny coming in".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Councillor Janet Jefferson, cabinet member for corporate resources, told the meeting: "On the finance side, to the best of our abilities we helped them with all the available grants.

"I'm sorry I can't give the figures for what they would have received, but everyone in business got free rates, no matter what size they were.

"I'm really sorry that the situation is as it is."

'Hoped they would stay'

Councillor Alf Abbott said 30 jobs were being lost as a result of the closure and expressed concern at negative publicity directed at the council around the perceived lack of support for the restaurant.

He sought assurances that the council had supported the business.

In response, Councillor Liz Colling, cabinet member for inclusive growth, said: "I would like to emphasise that this council has worked collaboratively with them on the issue of rent, obviously I won't talk about that in a public meeting.

"But we have really negotiated with them on rent and done everything that is within our power, given that we cannot give them rent-free because we are a landlord for lots of other properties as well.

"They made the decision to close. As I say, we were dealing with them all the way along and in good faith, and we really hoped that they would stay."