Cafe owners ordered to lose outside seats

An award-winning coffee house in a Wolverhampton suburb has been ordered to remove tables and chairs from outside or pay hundreds of pounds to secure permission for them to stay.

Owners of Sadliers Coffee Lounge in Tettenhall, married couple Maxine and Paul Sadlier, were warned by council officers last week but are refusing to remove them from the pavement.

They say the tables and chairs, which protrude over less than half the width of the pavement, are not a risk to public safety.

They also claim to have submitted an application to the city council a few months ago to keep the tables outside and paid hundreds of pounds, only to have it all handed back to them and told permission would never be granted.

Mother-of four Mrs Sadlier, aged 45, said today: "Two council officers came in on Friday and told us to move the tables inside.

"They said complaints had been received about our tables outside. They said the tables and chairs were blocking the pavement. They are only tiny little French bistro chairs and tables that don't even come out past half the width of the pavement."

Mr and Mrs Sadlier moved Sadliers to Upper Green in August last year at a cost of £85,000 — around £35,000 over budget. It had previously been located in The Arcade, High Street, for four years.

The business was named national coffee shop of the year in 2007. Mrs Sadlier said: "I refuse to move the tables and chairs outside. They will be out every day until highways service come down and tell me to move them.

"We are a respectable company and we are just earning a living and we are in a recession. As a small business we have it really hard. This isn't helping.

"I wouldn't care, but a few month ago we submitted an application to the council for the tables and chairs.

"We were handed back our money and told there was no point submitting an application. The council said it would never get passed."

Wolverhampton City Council spokesman Tim Clark said today: "This matter has been referred to senior managers who are considering the issues raised by Mrs Sadlier."