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Council seeking enforced sale of derelict restaurant abandoned a decade ago

A derelict Indian restaurant which has been abandoned for 10 years could be sold under pressure from the local council. Breckland Council is pursuing an enforced sale of the former Akaash restaurant in Dereham town centre. During a hearing last year, Breckland Council secured a court order requiring the owners of the property to make urgent safety repairs and reimburse £6,000 in legal fees paid by the authority. However, the owners failed to comply within the specified timeframe, meaning the council had to carry out the repairs instead. The authority hopes to force the sale of the property to recover debts incurred through its work on the building. The derelict restaurant must now be repaired (Image: Denise Bradley) Ray O'Callaghan, a Dereham councillor, told a meeting last week: "I appreciate some emergency work has been carried out. "However, residents are rightfully upset that news concerning the building seems to have dried up." Sarah Suggitt, deputy leader, said: "It is a lengthy process but we are working towards an enforced sale of the Akaash. "It has taken longer than we would like but the team are doing the best they can in a tricky, sensitive situation. "The property is not in the best of health and I appreciate that it has caused a huge amount of frustration. But these things do take a long time." A spokesman for the council said the process had been complicated amid confusion over the current ownership of the building. READ MORE: US chain to open first Norfolk megastore... with 600 parking spaces The Akaash pictured in 2003 (Image: Newsquest) The former Akaash restaurant at 23 Market Place has sat empty since its closure in 2015 and been subject to several break-ins as it continues to deteriorate. Breckland Council issued an enforcement notice in 2022 requiring improvements to the property but this expired without repairs being delivered - resulting in the authority taking the owners to court last year. The required works included securing the lean-to roof, replacing damaged roof tiles, fixing rainwater guttering, and boarding up one of the windows.