Traders turn to MP for help on evictions

COMPANIES on a Widnes industrial estate claim they have been left high and dry after being told to vacate the site in just a few weeks to make way for housing.

- BY MARK SMITH

Firms on Golden Triangle Industrial Estate in Halebank say they recently received a solicitor’s letter on behalf of Halton Borough Council giving them until the end of March to pack up.

Martin Freeman, 55, and wife Shelley have owned Shelley's Cafe for the last 12 years. He said: “When we first took it on it was a failing business. We fixed it up and worked for nothing to get it going. We know all the other owners and local people come here.”

Mr Freeman says he recently had to go to A&E with a high heart rate and, although awaiting test results, does not know if stress over the couple’s situation was to blame.

He added: “We haven't been offered any help or advice, just told to leave.”

Business on the estate say it is home to between ‘around 30 or 40’ companies encompassing everything from loft insulation to ice cream vans. They estimate collectively the firms all employ around 200 people.

Lorna McGowan has worked at MOT test centre RGN Ltd for 20 years, with her boss Rowland having been there for more than 40.

She said: “It's not just the businesses themselves it’s all the people they employ. I’ve got four years to retirement, where am I going to get another job now?”

Pete Maddison who runs PM Groundworks has been based on the estate for 20 years. He added: “We just want them [the council] to understand that you can’t just turf people out when it's their livelihood”

Many of the businesses have written to Widnes and Halewood MP Derek Twigg about the ongoing situation.

In a response to the LDRS, he said he had contacted Halton Borough Council to ask that it review the situation as ‘a matter of urgency’: