A row has broken out between civic leaders in Ellesmere and a former restaurant owner over delays to the reopening of the venue on the newly-refurbished waterside around The Mere

The opening of the Boat House Restaurant, which was refurbished as part of the £2 million regeneration project , has been delayed and town councillors and tenant Charles Roberts are pointing the finger at each other.

Mr Roberts, who ran the restaurant until it closed for refurbishment work in 2007, said he wanted to reopen the business, but had missed out on grant funding because joint landlords Ellesmere Town Council and Shropshire Council had not drawn up a lease in time.

But council leaders say Mr Roberts’s late decision to pull out has left them in a difficult situation.

The restaurant is now due to be run by Shropshire Council’s catering team.

Mr Roberts said he was selected as the preferred tenant when he tendered for the business more than a year ago, but was unable to obtain a £40,000 grant that was part of the tender because the councils did not draw up a lease and he was forced to pull out.

“It’s just a very sad thing,” he said. “It all turned very sour – it was something I’d looked forward to so much.”

However, Ellesmere Town Council clerk Peter Holloway said in a statement: “At an extremely late stage, Mr Roberts wrote and stated that due to the current economic climate, he no longer wished to take up the tender.”