A businessman who lost thousands of pounds over a licensing wrangle has hit out at City of York Council.

Ian Loftus opened continental-style beer café, House Of The Trembling Madness in Stonegate earlier this year.

Inspired by Belgian cafés, the idea was to use a second floor 12th century hall to offer good beer and hearty food in a relaxed environment.

Mr Loftus, who runs the nearby Evil Eye Lounge and The Bottle Store, said: “We wanted people to come here day or night and have a drink or food and this is all written down in the business.

“Licensing officers came and looked round and we were granted a licence to serve food and drink until midnight.”

But a month after opening, officers closed the café down, saying the licence stipulated alcohol must be “ancillary” to food.

The café reopened on those terms, but made huge losses as a result.

Mr Loftus said: “We had to turn people away who just wanted a drink and we were making 20 per cent of what we were before. Some days we were turning away about 100 people.

“We immediately put in an application for a new licence.

“Meanwhile, we were losing £1,200 a week.”

Mr Loftus had to foot the cost of legal fees for the new licence application and gave two staff members notice while cutting the shifts of others.

He said: “I used all my resources, I’m completely broke. In total I lost £12,000 in a month and I’ve got a family to support.

“The new licence has just come through, but it’s going to be very hard to build up trade again.” John Lacey, licensing manager at City of York Council, said: “On May 15, a council licensing officer and police officer visited the premises on an enforcement visit, which are regularly carried out in York, and found they were selling alcohol without any food provision.

“This found them in breach of their licence and the premises consequently closed voluntarily that evening, but it has since reopened after submitting a variation to their licence.”