Town hall bosses have been ordered to pay costs of £9,000 after losing an appeal in a long-running case involving alleged negligence and malicious prosecution.

At the end of November, Douglas Council lost its appeal against a decision not to strike out a civil claim lodged by Richard David Bellamy over dilapidated Braddan Lodge on Quarterbridge Road.

In August 2017, Douglas Council issued a claim against Mr Bellamy over unpaid rates of £856.

The council subsequently withdrew the claim, but not before Mr Bellamy issued a counterclaim for £50,000 damages, claiming ’malicious prosecution, negligence, deceit and misfeasance in public office’.

That claim related to a notice issued by the local authority in 2014, giving Mr Bellamy six months to complete unfinished building works at Braddan Lodge.

Mr Bellamy’s appeal against the notice was dismissed as was a 2015 doleance claim.

In his counterclaim, Mr Bellamy argued that the notice was not valid because it was not lawfully authorised by either the Mayor or the environmental services committee.

In September this year Deemster Sharon Roberts dismissed the town hall’s application for strike out or summary judgment in relation to the counterclaim.

She ruled that the counterclaim has a ’realistic prospect of succeeding’.

Douglas Council subsequently lost its appeal against the decision not to strike out the counterclaim - and it has now been ordered to pay costs of £9,286.50 in relation to its appeal.

But judge of appeal Jeremy Storey QC, sitting with Deemster Bailhache, said they felt unable to impugn Douglas Council’s motives for appealing or its litigation tactics.

They said the authority had not acted ’improperly or oppressively’ in the conduct of its appeal - and so the payment of indemnity costs could not be justified.

’The appeal was certainly misguided but, in our judgment, fell short of being "totally without merit" or "utterly unreasonable", the appeal court judges said.

They said it could be argued that Mr Bellamy was unreasonable not to have accepted Douglas Council’s offer to pay £9,000, but that offer was made too late to save any of his costs and time for acceptance was less than 48 hours.

The council was ordered to pay costs totalling £9,286.50 within 14 days of the judgment being handed down.

When the issue went to trial in 2017, Mr Bellamy successfully argued there was no case to answer.

He maintained he was not the legal owner of Braddan Lodge but an executor of the estate of his late mother who was the late owner.