HUGE empty factories in Selby could soon be demolished unless the Government changes its rules on business rates.

That is the fear of Selby MP John Grogan who, defying his own Government, warns the existing rules “are perversely leading to a boom for demolition contractors”.

Before last April, unoccupied properties received relief from business rates for the first three months and 50 per cent thereafter, while industrial properties received full relief. This was scrapped by the Government in favour of giving relief for three months only.

The Labour MP, citing Selby’s redundant buildings of Tate & Lyle, Clariant and Rigid Paper, said it was “now a race against time” to find new industrial users for these premises.

He said: “If contracts are not signed soon it may be too expensive, given the rates bill, for the owners to leave them empty.”

Mr Grogan’s warning came after he met Denise Stuart, chief executive of york-england.com, the region’s inward investment organisation and a group of business leaders in the property and building sectors.

Mrs Stuart has already lobbied Scarborough MP Robert Goodwill and plans to hold similar meetings with Ryedale MP John Greenway, York MP Hugh Bayley and Vale of York MP Anne McIntosh.

She said: “The tax on empty properties is simply not fair. It is asking building owners to pay for services they are not using and it is stifling development in the area.”

Among the delegation with her was Martyn Harrison, chairman of S Harrison, the property company responsible for a number of high profile developments across the region.

Speaking at his Escrick Park development in Mr Grogan’s constituency, he said: “To thrive when the upturn comes, Yorkshire needs to have good, well-located and well-built business parks like this one, ready for occupation by growing businesses.

“The harsh reality is that the cost of paying rates on offices and warehouse units while they await occupants will force businesses like ours to stop building speculatively and that could really slow down the region’s recovery.”

As reported in The Press in November, York electronics firm Bio-Rad decided to spend £300,000 on the demolition of its premises in Haxby Road primarily to avoid having to pay rates on the empty building.

Coun Ian Gillies, Tory group leader on City of York Council, concerned about the loss of yet more factory space in the city, also called for the Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007, to be suspended.