STALL holders in Golden Square Shopping Centre fear they could be put out of business after being hit with business rate bills totalling thousands of pounds.

The Valuation Office Agency is ordering stalls in the shopping centre to pay £6,000-a-year in business rates, which they have not been charged for up until now.

Fees will also be backdated, meaning that some stall holders are facing five-figures bills.

One such stall holder is Stan Leader, who runs Accessories 4 You near Marks and Spencer.

He said: "For me the biggest issue is being charged retrospectively - there is £9,065 outstanding from previous financial years but we weren't even informed until November that we would be charged business rates.

"We have agreed a payment plan of £666 a month - I wish we earned £666 a month but we have staff to pay and we pay a lot of rent to be in a good shopping centre.

"How come they along and ask us for this money when we've never known about it?

"If we knew about it we could've made an informed decision whether to stay or go - in our case we would have gone.

"For what it's worth I think this needs to go to court to get a clear ruling, because nobody knows where they're up to."

Joanna Grygowska, who runs jewellery shop Polyanna near WH Smiths, was hit with a £10,000 bill just before Christmas.

She said: "My invoice arrived two weeks before Christmas and we had to find the money to pay before Christmas.

"I work around 60 hours a week on my own on my stall so how could I afford to pay anything like this if I don't have a member of staff to cover for even two or three days a week?

"Just because we're in a prime locations it doesn't mean we earn prime money.

"I've received threatening letters saying that they will take me to court - as a small business, I can't do that because that will affect my personal life and credit score."

E-cigarettes stall VIP owner Lisa Irving's bill arrived a week before Christmas.

She added: "We've been here for five years and they want to backdate our payments for five years.

"The way rates are charged is not fair - our stand is 6sq m but we have a shop that is a lot bigger and the business rates for that are only £10,000."

Warrington Borough Council, which is collecting business rates under the instruction of the Valuation Office Agency, said it was allowing stall holders to pay lower fees until appeals are heard.

A spokesman for the Valuation Office Agency said: "We are legally bound to maintain a correct and up-to-date rating list.

"If we become aware of any sort of inaccuracy in the list, we ensure that the list is amended to reflect the correct position."

Golden Square Shopping Centre is supporting businesses hit by the bills.

A spokesman said: "The business rates are being introduced by the Valuation Office Agency and as such Golden Square has no involvement in setting the charge.

"Following discussions, we are offering affected tenants whatever assistance we can provide throughout this process."