The owners of a popular cafe in Oxford are in dispute with their church landlords about the use of toilets for the disabled.

Will Pouget, who runs the Vaults & Garden cafe in Radcliffe Square, and cafe operators Fresh Connection, are facing a three-month eviction notice from the Parochial Church Council (PCC) of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin.

They are contesting the eviction notice and a county court hearing took place in Oxford last month, with legal proceedings expected to resume in March.

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The PCC has said it wants to create a new social enterprise at the Old Congregation House, where the cafe is based, and complete repairs to stonework, replant the garden and work on a major redevelopment of the cafe facilities.

It has committed £750,000 to the building works.

Now, in the latest development, Mr Pouget said the church was making it less convenient for people to use the disabled toilet facilities, which are on the first floor and accessed via a lift.

Oxford Mail: Customers at the Vaults & GardenMr Pouget said he was told by the PCC that a member of staff would have to be present to supervise the use of the toilet, or alternatively the disabled person could use a different disabled toilet in the church itself.

The cafe owner who is being supported in his bid to stay at the cafe by a 11,000-signature Save The Vaults petition, said only church staff could now provide the access code to the disabled toilet.

He added: "It is inconvenient for the customer to be on the receiving end of these shenanigans.

"Our management team now has an extra layer of stress to cope with and I hope this can be properly resolved.

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"This only came to light about a month ago and I don't think it would have happened if we weren't in this legal dispute - we have had 12 years of normal access to these toilets.

Oxford Mail: Will Pouget outside the Vaults & Garden

"Only church members of staff can provide the code for the disabled toilet and there are occasions when they are not available.

"The side effect of this is that disabled customers are being inconvenienced which is not fair - it's ridiculous."

A spokesman for the PCC said: "The disabled toilets in Old Congregation House and in the church remain available for those with disabilities to use.

"For fire safety and insurance reasons, those wishing to use these toilets must be accompanied by a member of church staff.”

Oxford Mail: A campaign to Save the Vaults

The spokesman added: "The disabled toilets in Old Congregation House have been available for the use of disabled members of the public since 2012, when they were refurbished.

"In 2020 we reviewed our health and safety policy, in light of the Covid pandemic, and we realised for fire safety and insurance reasons, we needed staff supervision.”

Mr Pouget insisted the issue had only come to light in recent months.

He added that the disabled toilet installation was completed in 2011.

The online petition to Save The Vaults & Garden cafe now has 10,946 signatures and the next target is 15,000 signatures.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

His Trade and Tourism newsletter is released every Saturday morning. 

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