A LANDLORD has promised to pay his electricity bills after an application was made in court to have the supply to his pub cut off.

Paul Sweeney, who took over the Morris Dancer in Kelsall with partner Rachel Jones in January, is faced with an unpaid bill of over £5,000.

Mr Sweeney says he has been lumbered with debts belonging to the previous occupiers, of the Chester Road premises, after their business went bankrupt.

But he has agreed to pay off his share to stave off the threat of disconnection.

It comes after a collections officer, working on behalf of energy company E.ON, applied for a warrant at Chester Magistrates Court which would enable him to enter the premises and disconnect the electricity.

E.ON said that although they cannot comment on individual cases they confirmed that if a client was in arrears then they would be at risk of having their electricity supply cut off.

Mr Sweeney and Miss Jones have recently completed a large scale refurbishment and are hosting the village’s first ever jazz festival this weekend.

They are hoping to restore the pub as an important part of the community and Mr Sweeney is confident any outstanding balances to E.ON will be dealt with.

He said: “We are a partial victim of the former occupancy but it is all being sorted out. We will have to pay some of the money because there is some overlap with regards our ownership.

“There has been an error in communication but we are not about to jeopardise what we are doing here having spent a lot of money on a recent refurbishment.”