Covid: Closed Carmarthen firms consider legal action over 'unfair' bills

Steffan Hughes said he received a payment demand after months of having to keep his restaurant closed

Firms are considering suing a business improvement district that billed them for work after three months of lockdown, a restaurant boss has said.

Steffan Hughes, who runs Lolfa in Carmarthen, said he only set up his business in November.

He got an initial payment demand before Christmas and a reminder last week.

Carmarthen's BID manager George Reid said he understood why businesses were upset, but "there has been a lot of grants paid out to people".

Mr Hughes "hadn't heard of the BID" - which is a partnership created to help businesses - and said he was "a little surprised" to get the invoice.

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"I responded through email and telephone and didn't hear anything back," he said.

"I forgot about it until last week when there was a follow-up letter which was quite a threatening letter, saying that court proceedings would begin if the invoice wasn't paid."

He found it "staggering" the BID "think it's fair" to ask for fees "after the year we've all had".

Steffan Hughes opened Lolfa in November last year and had not heard of the BID

Life in hospitality had been "incredibly difficult," he said, and called on the BID to postpone the payments.

"It looks as though we'll have to take legal action when we're being threatened with court proceedings," he said.

Carmarthen's BID manager, George Reid, said: "My own business has benefited from those grants. Those grants are not designed to be pocket money or put away for a holiday. They're designed to pay your commitments and the BID process is a commitment."

Payments are collected by Carmarthenshire council which said it would only take court action if "instructed to do so by the BID company".