Battle at Shanghai Palace

A deal is being discussed between the owner of a former £650,000 restaurant in Wigan and the council over unpaid business rates.
Shanghai PalaceShanghai Palace
Shanghai Palace

Town hall chiefs lodged a creditor’s petition against Joy-on-Earth Leisure Corporation, the company behind the now-deserted Shanghai Palace in Poolstock last week.

The High Court action by the authority’s solicitors, Greenhalgh Kerr, claimed the Liverpool-based outfit owed the borough council an undisclosed sum.

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But Joseph Farley, the Ormskirk-based managing director of Joy-on-Earth, said the petition, which was due to be heard yesterday before a judge at the Business and Property Court, had been withdrawn.

Mr Farley confirmed that the case revolved around business rates which were said to be owed by his company to Wigan Council.

Earlier this year the Wigan Post reported how the restaurant, which was first opened in 2009 on the site of the Beer Engine pub, had been hit by burglars no fewer than 23 times during seven years of opening.

And the break-ins continued after the premises were closed in 2016, with extensive damage caused to the interior and travellers setting up camp on the car park at one point for an extended period.

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One of the final straws was when thieves were pictured hauling away huge decorative dragons, which had stood outside the restaurant’s entrance.

Mr Farley said: “We never earned any money at the premises after we closed and that was our argument.

“The travellers ripped out everything, including our air conditioning units. The police attended but they couldn’t do anything.

“We couldn’t even get insurance there. This has cost us nearly £300,000 and I’ve suffered dreadfully here.

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“But we’ve done a deal and the petition has now been withdrawn.”

An estimated £30,000 worth of fittings were said to have been taken.

A Wigan Council spokesman declined to comment as the matter was still the subject of ongoing litigation but indicated the case had been adjourned, rather than settled.

Planning permission has been granted by the borough council’s development control committee for 27 homes to be constructed on the site.