A HOTELIER in the East Neuk of Fife has been hit with a final council tax demand for nearly £600—for the wheelhouse of a ship now in the Scottish Marine Museum in Irvine and which was the home for the past 55 years of a former German POW.

Stewart Dykes, proprietor of the Crusoe Hotel in Lower Largo, bought the Woodside Hotel in Aberdour in 1997, and found he had inherited Ernie Egg, the hotel gardener, who lived in a shed without any amenities behind the hotel.

Ernie, a worthy in the village since he was captured by the British at the end of the war, tended the garden for no pay, but his board and personal care was provided by the hotel.

Ernie died in 2000 and Stewart thought he could extend the hotel at the rear, reasoning that as the shed had been a residence, he would have little difficulty in persuading planners that there was no change of use.

“The planners came for a look and immediately said it was uninhabitable and not fit for human habitation. But then I got a demand for council tax. I said no-one lives there any longer and enclosed the opinion of the planning department.”

That, as far as Stewart was concerned, was that and he subsequently bought the Crusoe and heard no more until a couple of days ago.

“I got a letter from the Messenger at Arms, the Sheriff Officers, claiming that I owed Fife Council £324 for 2001-02 and £250 for the year 2002-03, and that unless I paid up immediately, they would come and poind my property. They said the arrears were for the flat at the back of the hotel.

“I had been unaware up until then that council tax had been due or had been paid on the shed. Ernie must have been paying thousands of pounds for the past 40 years or more on something that turned out later to be not for human habitation.”

He said he was convinced that when he sent the letter into the finance department from the planners, the whole matter would just go away. “I thought they could not seriously pursue this because it would be a huge embarrassment for them. Evidently I was wrong.”

To complicate matters further, if it comes to examining the fitness or otherwise of the shed, council officials will have to go west.

The shed has in fact turned out to be the wheelhouse of a boat dating from around 1900 and now resides in the Irvine museum.

Aberdour councillor Ron Edwards described the issue as extremely peculiar but said that he would be investigating immediately. “This whole affair just seems to be completely over the top. It remains to be seen now whether or not Mr Dykes receives a water rates demand for a shed with no water.”

Allan Traynor, Fife Council revenue services manager said, “The council tax regulations define properties which will be entered on the valuation list. This particular property was assessed as being a Band A category and was removed from the list in December 2003.

“There is an obligation on owners of empty property to pay council tax which is subject to a 50% discount. An owner can make an appeal against any ruling but whilst this is on-going the owner is still liable for any council tax that is due during their ownership.

“In the intervening period Mr Sykes has been advised that these charges were due and payable.”