Cafe couple battle with DOT to carry on serving
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by Derren Hayes • The Department of Transport is to sue two Cambridgeshire truckstop proprietors after a long-running battle over their right to continue operating a roadside cafe.
Jenny and Peter Hawes are to appear at Cambridge County Court on 15 April to contest a DOT bid to repossess land and win damages for occupation of the lay-by where jenny Hawes has been running the "Sit In Cafe" since May 1994.
The cafe takes its name from Peter Hawes' six month sit-in at a previous cafe the pair ran nearby (CM 11-17 Nov 1993), where he welded himself inside during another dispute with the DOT.
Although unpopular with the Government, the couple's new cafe is enjoyed by hauliers using the A47 King's Lynn to Wisbech road.
The latest round in the dispute is over the Hawes' claim that the DOT offered them the current site after they were evicted from their old cafe.
The DOT denies this and says the new cafe, like the last one, poses a safety hazard. It wants to repossess the land that was originally bought for a road widening scheme.
The Hawes insist they will battle on. Jenny Hawes says: "We are confident the decision will go our way and we won't give up without a fight. We don't mind paying rent to use the site and would do anything to get it sorted."