A COLNE hotel owner claims Pendle Council is trying to run him out of town.

Bernard Collins bought the Hendly Hotel, Queens Street, 16 years ago and the building has been on Colne councillors' 'problem sites' list since September 2003.

Now, council officers are set to force Mr Collins to carry out up to £20,000 worth of repairs on the property but he claims he knows nothing about it.

Mr Collins said: "They have got it in their minds to destroy us.

"Paul Lloyd, from the urban renewal team, came and had an informal chat with me and told me that there would be some changes coming in in October but they only had limited information about what those changes would be.

"It was never implied or expressed to me that they were going to serve notices. There was no formal inspection of the premises.

"At the moment the fire officer's quite happy to issue me a fire certificate on an annual basis. We are operating within the law."

Colne and District Committee discussed a report by Mr Lloyd on Thursday which said the property 'is a known house in multiple occupation' -- a claim denied by Mr Collins who insists he runs a bona fide hotel.

Mr Lloyd said he discussed 'the works that will be required to bring the amenities, repairs and the fire safety in the property up to the required standard' with Mr Collins and the future need for a licence to operate as an HMO.

The council's environmental health and urban renewal service manager Trevor Mitton explained to the committee that they had to give Mr Collins adequate time to do the work but council leader Coun Alan Davies said he was worried about the safety of the building and its occupants.

Coun Davies said: "What concerns me is that £20,000 of fire safety work is a lot of work and the question is whether the building is safe.

"It all adds to our ongoing major concerns over a number of years about the building and its management."

The council will serve notice on Mr Collins requiring the work to be done.

If it is not, the council will do it for him and recover the