Landords should take pending court action against the owners of a former pub in Market Rasen as a  "wake up call".

The company secretary of the Goldmine, formerly the King's Head pub, was last week served notice of the council's intention to take action. The date for the hearing at Lincoln Magistrates' Court has now been set for Wednesday, March 7.

Mayor Coun Ken Bridger, who is one of the prime movers on the council in serving notices on landlords of business premises badly in need of repair, said: "If the company pleads guilty it will be dealt with then.

"If, however, they wish to defend the matter it will go to trial. 

"This will be a wake up call for the rest that don't apply - we need to do something to smarten up the town."

The hearing is part of a campaign started last year by the local authority to clean up the high street. Letters have been sent to other landlords requesting them to tidy up their act and they will also face legal action if they fail to comply. However, the council hopes it will not come to that.

Coun Bridger said: "So far, the other landlords who have been sent letters are replying. Thanks must go to West Lindsey on this, they are working hard on our behalf."

Results of the work so far can be seen along the length of Queen Street.

But years of traffic flowing through the town have left many buildings that are structurally sound still looking drab because of dirty brickwork and peeling paintwork.

This is made worse because lack of community pride often results in rubbish being thrown down and not put in bins. And members of staff at one business along Queen Street have even been seen regularly going outside to smoke cigarettes and dropping butts on the path for someone else to clear up.

Coun Bridger said: "The town is looking a little fresher, but we still have a long way to go.

"I'm spending a lot of time on this - people don't appreciate what goes on behind the scenes."

Cleaning up the high street is at the top of a list of residents' priorities for the town, drawn up by a steering group of volunteers working towards a Neighbourhood Plan that will allow them to seek regeneration funding.

However, whether landlords take up the opportunity is another matter. Coun Bridger said: "Grants were offered when the regeneration money came into the town before, but only a few applied."

Lettings manager of Perkins, George Mawer and Co, Melissa Hodds, said one of the problems was landlords did not have the money to refurbish their properties.

She said: "They hope a tenant will come along and do the work for them."

Until then, properties are left empty and decaying – but work is taking place to resolve this.

Coun Bridger said: "The other thing we are working on is to fill the empty shops. I am in talks with a landlord to see if a rent reduction for new businesses would be a way forward.

"I've also been in contact with West Lindsey to see if we can do some form of business rate reduction. Business rating is so complex and will need to be formulated as it is central government that oversees this."

In the meantime, it is left to the present tenants to make their properties look as attractive as possible.

Partner at Indulgence Steve Hine said tenants could do a lot for themselves. He said: "Just sweeping the shop fronts makes a difference. I have my windows cleaned every week, too – if you leave them longer than this, you can't see out of them."

It's a business ethic that Coun Bridger firmly agrees with. He said: "I run a business and have to attract customers. We spend money each year to make the place look presentable - this is commonsense.

"We've spent over £5,000 this year on the outside and we clean our windows once a week.  

"I feel that some traders in the town expect everything to be done for them - if they want people to stop, shop and look around they need to help themselves."

There is also talk about putting teams of volunteers in charge of cleaning up small areas of the town. Coun Bridger said: "Easier said than done – who is going to administer it? That's the next hurdle."