The owners of a Telford pub and nightclub face having their power cut off after failing to pay a £53,000 electricity bill over the last two years.

The Station Hotel, in Station Approach, Wellington, was taken to court by supplier npower.

A spokesman from PDP, representing npower, told Telford Magistrates Court yesterday the bill of £53,688.21 dated back to 2005, but nothing had been paid by the premises’ owners.

Magistrates granted permission to disconnect the power or install a pre-payment meter. But the PDP spokesman told magistrates a pre-payment meter would not be appropriate in such large premises .

He said: “This is a large premises with a nightclub facility which uses a lot of power. But at the moment it is free because no payment has been made.”

Kad Zaman, landlord, was not in court, but later said he was surprised to hear the news. He said the bill had come from a company he leased premises to and was no longer present.

Issuing a warrant against the pub was, therefore, a mistake, he added.

He said: “We have a new account ourselves now. It is nothing to do with us. I don’t think this premises could run up that kind of bill anyway.”

Mr Zaman said he had contacted npower to resolve the problem and would prove his company was not at fault.

He said attached nightclub Destiny was no longer operating, but that was not related to the other company or the electricity bill.

A spokesman for npower said the firm goes through seven stages of procedure before seeking a warrant.

He said: “The current occupier should not have let it go on for so long.”