Bizarre snail row sees Dudley shopping chiefs lose court battle with council
Snails are at the centre of a bizarre cash row between shopping centre bosses and Dudley Council.
The owners of the Trident Centre in Dudley have been accused of using snail farming to avoid paying business rates on one of its units.
Some firms are eligible for tax exemptions if buildings are being used for agricultural purposes, such as fish farms.
But after investigating, local authority chiefs were not happy where the trail led them and took owners of the High Street complex, Atlantis Holdings, to court.
Magistrates ruled in favour of the authority but Atlantis deny any wrongdoing.
John Sykes, chairman of Atlantis, said a tenant was using part of the sixth floor of the centre to breed snails and the firm would be fighting the ruling.
He insisted that Atlantis had shelled out tens of thousands of pounds in business rates and would never try and get out of paying tax owed.
He said: "We have never tried to and never would avoid business rates.
"This is an ongoing legal matter and another example of the council trying to muddy the water, being underhanded and deceitful to the people of Dudley. It is a travesty."
The council's chief executive Sarah Norman said: "On February 23, the council took court action against Atlantis Holdings for business rate avoidance.
"Atlantis Holdings were seeking to avoid payment of business rates on a building owned by them, by representing to the council that a tenant company was in occupation.
"That tenant company was allegedly breeding snails in the building.
"This was not accepted by the council and in a court case against Atlantis before Dudley Magistrates in February 2017, a liability order was granted in the council's favour.
"Since then we have expressed our willingness to work with Atlantis and its regeneration proposals.
"However, Dudley Council has a duty to collect business rates from local businesses."
Despite revealing details of the court action, local authority chiefs have insisted they are still willing to work with Atlantis on the Trident Centre.
