Preston City Council update on snail farm investigation at former BHS store in Fishergate

The Post revealed earlier this year that the former home of BHS, vacant since 2016, had allegedly been used to farm snails.

Preston City Council said it would look into the bizarre and slimy goings-on behind the shutters of the prime retail premises on Fishergate, where it was claimed edible snails were being bred for restaurants.

In 2018, planning permission was granted to convert the first floor - previously home to the BHS restaurant - into a 400-seat Spoon World Buffet, but the eatery never materialised.

It was then reported that snail farm boxes had been installed inside the empty store in a bid to benefit from reduced business rates. The creatures would spend three months at the store before being harvested and delivered to restaurants.

After the harvesting cycle is complete, more snails would reportedly be delivered to BHS and the process would be repeated.

Such use is prohibited without planning permission. It’s a tactic sometimes used by the owners of vacant commercial properties in a bid to have the building reclassified as used for agricultural purposes. This would allegedly make the premises exempt from business rates.

But Preston City Council has confirmed no such application has been registered with the local authority. It said the store had twice benefitted from reduced business rates since the closure of BHS eight years ago - “following periods of occupation of the premises” - but said no discount had been awarded in the case of the alleged snail farm.

However, it is unclear what retail activity, if any, would have taken place at the site during that period - with the shop front seemingly having remained boarded up throughout.

A town hall spokesperson previously said: “Officers are aware of the alleged unauthorised use and are investigating the matter.”

On the subject of business rates relief, the spokesperson added: “By placing boxes of snails in a property, a company can claim its use is for agricultural purposes, like a farm, and therefore exempt from paying business rates.

“However, it is unlikely that the Valuation Office Agency would reclassify the premises and a number of cases have established this precedent.

“When a property becomes empty after being occupied for six weeks, it can benefit from a three-month business rates relief.

“During the last three-year period, this particular property has benefitted from two periods of three-month business rates empty relief following periods of occupation of the premises.”

According to the Land Registry, the prestigious building was valued at £6.125m as of December 2022.

Statement from Preston City Council

A spokesperson for Preston City Council said: “The misuse of the agricultural exemption for the use of snail farms in commercial premises is an avoidance tactic for business rates.

“To date, no agricultural exemption has been awarded on these premises.

“Our teams continue to monitor these situations and will not hesitate to take further action to challenge such tactics to maintain a fair tax system for all ratepayers.”