Millionaire former football club owner from Lancaster told by court to settle unpaid Council Tax bill

Ex-Blackpool supremo Owen Oyston, 89, was told by a judge to pay the bill for the hotel suite he still occupies at the club's Bloomfield Road ground.

The club's current owners want to remove Oyston, whose permanent address is Quernmore Road, Lancaster, from the luxury suite, which is part of the club hotel and accessed by a private lift in the South Stand.

But Blackpool Council have been chasing both Oyston and the club over the alleged non-payment of council tax worth more than £3,000.

Both parties disputed who is liable for the payments, which forced the council to take them to court.

Oyston failed to attend the liability order hearing at Blackpool Magistrates' Court last week.

The order is a legal demand for money and means payment can be deducted from wages or state benefits.

The council can also use bailiffs to recover the amount owed, or – as a last resort – seek a jail term of up to three months for the defaulter.

His barrister Joseph Chiffers explained to Deputy District Judge Richard Jepson that his client had to attend an important medical appointment.

Sam Atkinson, representing Blackpool Council, said the tax demand had been properly served and calculated.

He said that Oyston, as tenant of the penthouse, had been sent a reminder and a court summons.

He said that any arrangements for payment involving the property did not affect Oyston's liability as tenant.

Oyston's lawyer asked for the liability order to be quashed or proceedings to be adjourned.

He claimed there was an agreement between his client and the new owners that the club would pay the tax.

And as the club have previously claimed Oyston is a trespasser at the stadium he no longer owns, he is not liable for payment of the outstanding bill, he argued.

His barrister said it could also be argued that the penthouse was not a self-contained living area and therefore should not be designated as such for council tax purposes.

Judge Jepson told the court it was "not his job" to get involved in "landlord-tenant issues or who pays the bills".

He told the court: "Mr Oyston agreed he is the tenant and bears liability."

The Judge heard legal proceedings are under way to remove Oyston from the penthouse and the millionaire has been served notice to vacate the stadium apartment.