A WOMAN running a cafe next to one of Keighley's most popular attractions says she is losing her livelihood this week because her council landlord has ordered her to leave.

Cheryl Holdsworth, who has managed the cafe in the grounds of Cliffe Castle Museum for five years, says Bradford Council told her that on Tuesday of this week she would need to hand back the keys to the property.

Ms Holdsworth, a single mum with a three-year-old daughter, now fears she could end up losing her home as well as her business.

"It's just me and my little girl, and I never expected I'd have to start all over again at this stage of my life," she said. "I feel very low and stressed. I've put everything I have into this business, and it's not my fault it's going under."

She said Bradford Council gave her notice to quit the premises despite her struggle to keep the cafe going during the one and half years Cliffe Castle was closed for major refurbishment.

Ms Holdsworth, a founding member of the Cliffe Castle Park Conservation Group, added that she had played a part in helping secure a £3.5 million lottery grant for Cliffe Castle's grounds, and was told verbally that she could run a brand new cafe there once it is developed.

"The council did ask me to invest money into the new cafe," she added. "I would have liked to, but I said how could I do that when I'd been without an income for nearly two years due to Cliffe Castle being closed?

"The council Parks and Landscapes people have been saying the closure didn't have much of an effect on footfall, but I know that isn't true. It was horrendous, it was like a ghost town here.

"They told me that I wasn't keeping the cafe open, but because I didn't have the cash flow coming in I wasn't able to open consistently during that time. It was an impossible situation."

Ms Holdsworth, who lives in Scholes, near Wyke, said because she was hardly making any money during this period Bradford Council agreed to suspend her rent payments.

"They're now using that against me and saying that because I didn't have to pay rent I can't have compensation," she said. "I feel they have been a little underhand.

"I've asked for a stay of execution so I can find somewhere to put all my furnishings, but I've been warned that's not going to happen."

Phil Barker, Bradford Council’s assistant director for Sport and Leisure, responded: “The council has been working with many partners to develop the scheme and funding bids for the new Cliffe Castle Park and café.

“Once it is completed, the correct procurement procedures for its future operation will be followed.”