Lyme Regis cafe pavement charges refunded after 14-year council error

Business owners on a Dorset seafront are to be refunded tens of thousands of pounds after they were wrongly billed for putting tables and chairs on the pavement. Eateries on Marine Parade, Lyme Regis, had been paying thousands of pounds for pavement licences, despite a nationwide cap of £500 for new licences and £350 for renewals. Following a lengthy dispute with traders, Lyme Regis Town Council has agreed to repay the charges affecting nine premises, dating back to 2012. Town clerk John Wright said: "We think we've acted in good faith, historically. We realise now there was an error, we put our hands up to it and what we are trying to do is remedy it as quickly as we can." The scale of the refunds has not yet been made public but Largigi Cafe owner Larry Gibbons said he had been paying £4,500 a year to the town council for his outside tables. The town council also said some of the premises had been occupied by more than one business over the last 14 years. Tom Robinson, chef and owner of Tom's Lyme Regis seafood restaurant, said he had been charged £3,500 a year. Speaking to Radio Solent's Dorset breakfast show, he said the town council had "acted very swiftly and professionally".