Park cafe to close with rent rise

Mr Jeffries has run the Black Cat cafe for 18 years

A man running a cafe in a country park near Caernarfon says he is shutting up shop because of problems with his landlord, Gwynedd Council.

Martin Jeffries from Deganwy, Conwy, says the last straw was a four-fold increase in the rent for the Black Cat cafe at Glynllifon.

He says he has now logged a complaint with the Local Government Ombudsman.

The council said a corporate complaints procedure was in place, and there would be no comment on individual cases.

Mr Jeffries said he had refused to renew his tenancy at the park following a demand for an increase in his £1,000 a year rent, and a catalogue of complaints about his dealings with the council.

Three full-time and four part-time workers would lose their jobs, he said.

Throwing myself onto the dole queue at the age of 52 isn't easy, but I feel there's no alternative Martin Jeffries, cafe tenant

They include the cafe manager who had worked for him for 17 years, and her mother, a cook, who had been with the business for 14 years, he said.

"I've been forced into this because relations with Gwynedd Council have deteriorated to the point when I can't continue any longer.

"I'm desperately sorry my staff are losing their jobs, and throwing myself onto the dole queue at the age of 52 isn't easy, but I feel there's no alternative."

The breakdown in relations between Mr Jeffries and the council was discussed by the authority's complaints committee in January 2007.

The committee awarded him £500 and apologised for the "inconvenience, the delay and the lack of response" in dealing with his complaints.

There was also an apology for "switching the electricity supply off without notice".

A council spokesman said it had not received confirmation from the tenant about the future of the tenancy agreement.

"Gwynedd Council is committed to maintaining a positive working relationship with all our tenants, " he added.

The council operated a complaints procedure, he added.

Individual cases would not be commented on, but every complaint would be "thoroughly investigated", he said.