{"id":885413,"date":"2026-01-16T16:33:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/16\/family-of-failed-firm-ordered-to-pay-1m-costs-after-losing-bus-station-battle\/"},"modified":"2026-01-16T16:33:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:33:15","slug":"family-of-failed-firm-ordered-to-pay-1m-costs-after-losing-bus-station-battle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/16\/family-of-failed-firm-ordered-to-pay-1m-costs-after-losing-bus-station-battle\/","title":{"rendered":"Family of failed firm ordered to pay \u00a31m costs after losing bus station battle"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"legal_uk_generic.jpg\"<\/p>\n

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The family of the owner of a collapsed contractor have been ordered to pay a council\u2019s \u00a31m costs in full, years after losing a legal battle over a bus station job.<\/p>\n

Close relatives of the late owner of Thomas Barnes & Sons<\/a> \u2013 which is now insolvent \u2013 unsuccessfully took legal action against Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council (BDBC) in 2022.<\/p>\n

They were seeking damages from the council over its \u201calleged wrongful termination\u201d of a contract to build Blackburn bus station in 2014.<\/p>\n

The family originally sought to claim \u00a3684,714 in damages. However, this figure was reduced to \u00a3357,000 when the case went to trial.<\/p>\n

BDBC\u2019s court costs after it won the case stood at \u00a3995,000.<\/p>\n

It was able to recover \u00a3583,000 through securities the family were ordered to make but a shortfall of \u00a3412,000 remained outstanding.<\/p>\n

This led to BDBC lodging a non-party costs order at Manchester\u2019s Technology and Construction Court against the family of Thomas Barnes to seek full payment.<\/p>\n

The original case was brought by Thomas Barnes\u2019 late-owner Brian Barnes\u2019 wife Pamela, his sons Craig and Scott and his brother Thomas. Barnes died in 2015.<\/p>\n

As a result, in its claim, the council said the respondents were \u201cthe real parties to the litigation\u201d rather than the firm, which collapsed in 2015, as they funded the case and had a direct financial interest in it.<\/p>\n

In a judgment handed down on Tuesday (13 January), Judge Stephen Davies, who sat on the original trial, ruled in the council\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n

He said despite there being \u201cwarnings\u201d that the family could lose the case, they continued to trial and it was only \u201cjust\u201d that they footed the legal bill rather than the taxpayer.<\/p>\n

In addition, the family were ordered to provide the substantial security for costs prior to the trial, which the judge said still \u201cdid not dissuade them\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a case where there were no warnings at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were still prepared to fund the claim on that reduced recovery basis at a lengthy and expensive trial.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is just that they, rather than BDBC as the successful defending party, should have to pay the costs of the successful defendant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Preston-based Thomas Barnes, a \u00a314.2m-turnover business, entered administration in 2015. The administration ended in 2023 with preferential creditors left out of pocket.<\/p>\n

Asad Laher, BDBC\u2019s deputy director of legal and governance, told Construction News <\/em>the council \u201cshould not be left to bear\u201d the financial burden of a \u201cmeritless\u201d claim.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe council had no choice but to robustly defend what was a long-running, multimillion-pound claim that lacked merit and incurred significant costs in doing so,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe judgment supports the council in protecting local taxpayers and reinforces the principle that public bodies should not be exposed to unrecovered legal costs where claims are pursued for private financial gain.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Nicola Harley<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The family of the owner of a collapsed contractor have been ordered to pay a council\u2019s \u00a31m costs in full, years after losing a legal battle over a bus station job. Close relatives of the late owner of Thomas Barnes & Sons \u2013 which is now insolvent \u2013 unsuccessfully took legal action against Blackburn with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":885414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2117,1719],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-885413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-failed","8":"category-family"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=885413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/885413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/885414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=885413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=885413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=885413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}