THE co-owner of a former nightclub in Winsford has been ordered to pay more than £630 after failing to improve the state of the ‘dilapidated’ site.

Middlewich man Paul McCarthy, of Cledford Lane, was due to appear at Chester Magistrates’ Court yesterday, Thursday, after failing to comply with a notice to maintain the Liquid Lounge and surrounding land, which was served by Cheshire West and Chester Council.

The 45-year-old did not turn up but the magistrates accepted a guilty plea via e-mail.

The council served the notice under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act after considering the condition of the vacant site, on Church Street, was ‘unsatisfactory’.

The court heard the notice served on the two co-owners partly asked for the grass and plants on the land to be ‘tidied’ and for the air conditioning unit on the side of building to be made safe.

The magistrates were also told the pair did not want to work together but have now made comments stating they ‘seek to resolve’ the matter.

McCarthy was fined £440 and also ordered to pay £150 in costs and a £44 victim surcharge, which brings the total to £634.