THE owner of a kebab house closed down by bailiffs has vowed to be up and running again in a couple of days.

The agents moved into Master's Grill, in East Reach, Taunton, yesterday (Monday) after the landlord complained the rent had not been paid for some time.

They slapped a notice in the window banning anyone from entering and changed the locks.

When a member of staff turned up for work in the early evening, she was unable to get in and rang her boss, Ismail Deniz.

He says he has been paying off debts from a previous business but will muster the £5,500 rent he owes for the Master's Grill premises and hopefully re-open later this week.

The notice in the window from civil enforcement agents JV Dawkins says agents acting on behalf of the landlord "re-entered and recovered possession of the premises" and as such the lease "is determined".

It adds: "Any attempt by you or your agents to enter the deemed premises will result in criminal/civil proceedings being taken against you."

However, Master's Grill owner Ismail Deniz posted a comment on Facebook yesterday saying: "Sorry, closed today."

This morning (Tuesday) he told the County Gazette: "I'm not feeling well at the moment and am having a little rest for a few days.

"Things are OK with the negotiations over the premises and we're getting it sorted.

"There were some rent arrears to the landlord - £5,500.

"The first I heard about the bailiffs was when my prep staff went there yesterday and she couldn't get in. She called me and when I went there I saw the notice and they'd changed the locks."

READ MORE: String of fake orders coasting Taunton kebab house 'thousands', says owner

Mr Deniz said the landlord is currently in Australia, but he has negotiated with commercial agents Humberts to pay the money owed.

He added he ran up the debt because of a "difficult situation" from the Riverside Restaurant, which he ran for a period in Bridge Street until it closed last year.

"It will take me a couple more days to settle the bills and then we'll re-open," said Mr Deniz.

Ryan Holmes, a surveyor with Humberts, representing the landlord, said: "It's something that can be sorted. Whether it can be sorted is entirely up to him (Mr Deniz).

"My client has offered some terms to Mr Deniz to remedy the breach, in which case he'll get the keys and be able to open again."

The Gazette has approached JV Dawkins for a comment.

Last month Mr Deniz reported a string of more than 100 fake orders he claimed had been made to the business, costing him thousands of pounds.

Mr Deniz claimed the culprit had been making around a dozen home delivery requests online on Fridays and Saturdays over a couple of months.

Somerset County Gazette:
OWNER: Master Grill owner Ismail Deniz