Court order sought over illegally demolished pub

A council is stepping up its legal action to force the owners of a listed 18th Century pub that was illegally demolished to rebuild it.

The Punch Bowl Inn in Hurst Green, Lancashire, was bulldozed by Donelan Trading Ltd after the group ignored a council decision in June 2021.

Five people were fined more than £20,000 last year for their role in knocking down the Grade II-listed building.

The owners have argued they were worried the building had become unsafe but were ordered to rebuild it to its original plan by March. Ribble Valley Council is seeking a new court order to make them do so.

The authority is applying to the High Court for an injunction to force the owners to comply with its March 2023 Enforcement Notice.

In a report to Ribble Valley Council’s planning and development committee meeting, the borough’s head of legal and democratic services Mair Hill informed councillors of the move.

The report said the council had "endeavoured to ensure" the enforcement notice "was complied with" and had "corresponded with, discussed in person and facilitated meetings on site with the highway authority and traffic management companies".

But it said the owner had "failed to restore" the building and maintained "a position that any restoration of the building should be in a different position from its original site".

The report continued: “This is not acceptable to the council and no evidence has been presented to the council to establish that it is not possible to comply with the enforcement notice.

“The council will therefore proceed to seek injunctive relief requiring compliance with the notice and has informed the land owner of this position.”

In March 2023 The Punch Bowl Inn’s owners and contractor Percliff were ordered to pay a range of fines and costs totalling £69,125 at Blackburn Magistrates Court by district judge Alexander Boyd, who said the company was aware the demolition of the building was a criminal offence when it took place.

The three owners – Andrew Donelan, his wife Nicola Donelan and daughter Rebecca Donelan – had told the court they were worried the building had become unsafe and they believed it had become worse over the years and had been broken into and targeted by arsonists.

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