One of Southport’s most popular tea rooms and cafes has broke the news that they won’t be able to open to the public, because it is inches outside the border of Merseyside.
Bill Rimmer’s Cafe, Tea Rooms and Farm Shop on Bentham’s Way say they won’t reopen despite the easing of lockdown measures in Southport after a dispute over where the shop sits on county boundaries.
However Dobbies will be permitted to serve from it’s cafe just yards away.
A rival business in West Lancashire has allegedly threatened to report Rimmer’s should they reopen.
The cafe has fallen foul of a baffling geographical anomaly which sadly means they are still in Tier 3 restrictions under Lancashire, despite being a Southport business.
OTS has reviewed Ordnance Survey data which suggests the exact border of Merseyside and West Lancashire runs through the car park of the premises.
The business also confirmed their rates are paid to West Lancashire.
The owner has described the news as a ‘devastating blow’.
They said: “Despite being on the very border of Sefton and West Lancashire, it stated that we were in tier 2 and we would be able to open from today when we came out of lockdown.
“Sadly, a business owner in West Lancashire has threatened to report us for floating the rules if we re open (despite the government website saying we can) so we have taken the responsible decision to remain closed as we are struggling to get some clarity as to where we stand. However, this is a devastating blow to myself and all of my staff in the run up to Christmas.
“During this time, we will be stopping our takeaway service and we hope that we will be able to re open from the 16th, when the tiers are reviewed. We will still be selling Christmas Trees throughout December.
“We would just like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of our customers for their support during this time. It really means a lot and we hope to see you all again soon.”
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