A LANDLADY running a bar dedicated to veterans has hit out at being “hounded” for unpaid business rates on an empty building.

Julie Cooper shut down the Stockton Don Bar in August 2020 after lockdown left her struggling to cover costs. The publican now runs the Last Post and The Don Memorial Museum, on Cranworth Street, in Thornaby.

But Stockton Council has sent a letter requesting £3,045,55 in unpaid business rates for 2021/22. Ms Cooper hit out at the authority last year after she closed the Don Bar, in Silver Street, before her lease ran out in October 2021.

Then she was facing bills of almost £10,000 – and urged the council to stop “hammering her” when they were struggling for income during Covid. Fresh correspondence came through from Stockton last month stating Ms Cooper faced a court date for the unpaid four-figure sum.

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But it’s understood council officials were working on a solution with Ms Cooper late last week – with the court hearing due on May 17 now not going ahead. Government rules state you don’t have to pay business rates on empty buildings for three months.

After this time, most companies must pay full rates. But the 57-year-old urged the council to ease off on “hounding her” – again pointing to how the bar was forced to close due to government rules.

Ms Cooper told the Local Democracy Reporting Service she’d been paying a £96 a month charge towards the four figure sum – even though she didn’t agree with it – and insisted she was coughing up for the  bill. She said: “They’re getting that (£96) because it’s going straight from my bank to their account – we’ve been paying it.

“I think it’s wrong we should have to pay empty building rates when the building has been forced to close down. I think the council needs to be a little bit more lenient.

“Ok, we have to pay rates but my building has been closed for two years – the lease has gone back to the owner. There will be thousands of people in the same boat as me.”

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Julie ran The Don Memorial Bar in Stockton for nine years after it opened in 2011. It became well-known around the country for its unique tribute to the British armed forces.

Ms Cooper was on the Ukraine-Poland border this week distributing aid. The landlady also revealed she’d tried to contact Stockton South MP Matt Vickers seeking help on the rates situation.

Last year, Stockton Council said the government set business rates while local authorities were responsible for collecting them. It also pointed to how 100% rate relief was offered to hospitality firms at the time.

Ms Cooper added: “It’s frustrating and it just makes me angry. We’re out on the Ukraine border at the minute – we help the community in Stockton and give out food parcels, and yet Stockton Council aren’t going to waive this? I think it’s wrong.”

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