Holbeck Hall case adjourned

The High Court last week adjourned the five-week-long case involving the Holbeck Hall Hotel, which fell off a cliff into the sea in June 1993.

Judge John Hicks said he would give his decision "come hell or high water" in the next legal term starting in October.

The hotel's insurer, which paid out £2.2m, is claiming compensation plus £1m costs from Scarborough Borough Council through the former hotel owners, Mr and Mrs Barry Turner. It accuses the council of not taking appropriate action to secure the cliff.

The council, which carried out cliff-top works in 1989, is in turn claiming damages against its technical adviser, Geotechnical Engineering (Northern) of Gloucester, which provided a report on the cliff's stability in 1985.

The council is accused of ignoring Geotechnical's recommendations, of failing to stabilise and adequately drain the cliff during the 1989 works, and of failing to inform the owners of the risk to the hotel.