A Mearns business says it has lost hundreds of pounds worth of stock after the landlord switched off the electricity.
Dave and Sylvia Ravenshea, the owners of D and S Pet Supplies in Laurencekirk, are now forced to rely on a generator, costing £200 a week in rent and fuel, to keep the business in operation.
Landlord Robert Fyfe has defended his action, saying: ”I have served them with a notice to quit. They shouldn’t be there.”
He leases the premises to the couple through his company Old Mart Services but makes it no secret that he wants them out to get use of their warehouse for storage.
Although the couple have paid the £36.61 he last billed them for their share of the electricity, he claims there is still a sum outstanding.
Last month’s rent, which he increased without warning from £700 to £1700 plus VAT, is also outstanding, the matter being in the hands of the Ravenshears’ lawyers.
He accepted the rent was in dispute but said: ”They could still have paid the electricity element, which is around £100. I have no intention of switching on the electricity.”
He added: ” I can charge whatever rent I wish.”
When asked if he had increased the rent for any of his other tenants on the old mart site, he responded: ”That’s none of your business.”
All the businesses, which include vehicle services, children’s indoor play area, beauty parlour and offices, operate on a month-to-month basis, as Mr Fyfe has refused to offer long-term leases or contracts.
The Ravenshears have operated on the site for eight years but their relationship with Mr Fyfe soured last autumn when they tried to sell the business. They had a buyer but Mr Fyfe refused to accept him as a tenant.
The feud escalated last month when the couple arrived at the store one morning to find tonnes of earth and gravel dumped at the doors.
The couple managed to clear a path for customers but had to call in a digger to clear the warehouse door to let fresh supplies in.
Besides the damaged stock, they say the disruption has cost them thousands of pounds in lost business.
They have been desperately seeking to secure alternative premises as they have a new buyer keen to take over but that has not proved easy in Laurencekirk, which has an acknowledged shortage of sites for commercial purposes.
”We are just about at the end of our tether,” said Mrs Ravenshear. ”We have no option but carry on but we never know from one day to the next what’s going to happen.”
Her husband added: ”We have never refused to pay him. The issue is the sudden increase in rent with no prior warning. If he would issue a correct bill in accordance with all the other ones, there would be no problem.”