Will’s been speaking with Council Officers from the Public Protection Team who have dealing with the former Bath Bakery shop for the past few weeks.
The situation is complicated by the fact Bath Bakery went into bankruptcy. The site was locked down by the Government’s Insolvency Service. Only people authorised by the Official Receiver can enter the site, and only for the purpose of recovering assets. A further complication is the shop’s owner lives abroad (Bath Bakery were tenants), so communications have been difficult.
Council Officers have been working with the Official Receiver to try and get the mouldy food removed. Progress has been made, and they are hopeful food will be removed and the site tidied before much more time passes.
Ultimately, the Council can get a Court Order to overrule the Official Receiver and enter the site and clear the food. This would be costly to the Council. It would be unlikely to recover the public funds spent doing this because the bill would be sent to Bath Bakery – who are bankrupt. Applying for a Court Order has not been ruled out, if the situation persists, but at present talks with the Official Receiver are going well and the Council is hopeful the situation will be resolved swiftly.