TYWYN Town Council is considering legal action against a spiritualist church which is alleged to owe £20,000 in unpaid rent.

The council has sub-leased the town’s railway buildings to the spiritualists for many years. But the lease is due to end this month, and councillors claim the church owes them rent money totalling £22,000.

Cllr Mike Stevens said in a town council meeting on 8 March: “It’s preposterous really. The council is owed £22,000 but what are doing to get that money? What are we doing to rectify the situation? We need to take action to get that money back - at least some of it.

“This is something we have to sort out as soon as possible. We don’t want to leave the new council [elected in May] a mess to deal with.”

Discussions surrounding the railway buildings are always held ‘in camera’ which means the press and public are not allowed to attend.

However, in the minutes of the February town council meeting, it was noted that the lease has “now finished” and that the current tenants had to vacate within a month.

A proposal by Cllr Stevens, and seconded by Cllr John Boulter, in the February meeting, offered to write off half of the rental arrears if the church moved out in that month.

If the building is not vacated, the council is considering legal action to reclaim possession of the building and the full amount of any arrears.

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