Owner despairs as blundering bailiffs strip the Naked Fish

Bailiffs broke down the door of Naked Fish in Bridlington, ripping out ovens, removing furniture and even taking frozen fish and alcohol, claiming they had a High Court writ due to unpaid debts.

Horrified owner James Goacher, who started the business from scratch in 2006, drove to the scene and spent two hours trying to convince the men, from Kent-based debt collectors Sherforce, they had made a terrible mistake.

They finally admitted the error – but the once-thriving restaurant has remained closed while Mr Goacher has tried to get a loan to replace the kitchen equipment .

Mr Goacher, 31, who owns a second branch in Hull, said he had been left humiliated as customers assumed he had gone bankrupt.

The father-of-one said: "I was cooking at the Hull restaurant when I got a call from a neighbour in Bridlington to say a group of men were cutting the door down.

"He put one of them on the phone and he said they had a writ for Naked Fish from a company I'd never heard of.

"I drove up immediately but the restaurant, which was closed at the time, had been cleaned out.

"They ripped a cooker out with such force it caused a gas leak.

"The fridges had been removed with all the food still inside, even the pictures had been taken off the walls.

"I was so humiliated and devastated. I had put four years of my life into building up my restaurant."

Mr Goacher said the bailiffs' mood changed once he'd signed a declaration stating the debt was nothing to do with him.

"They became sympathetic. They said there had been 'a terrible mistake'."

The High Court has ordered everything to be returned to Mr Goacher.

But further hearings will decide whether the bailiffs will be prosecuted or repay the 132,000 the businessman believes he is owed.

He fears a loophole in the law protecting debt collectors may mean they will be immune to being charged.

He said: "If I am not awarded compensation, there is a good chance I will have to close.

"I have worked so hard and now it could be taken away from me because of a mistake. I am hoping to reopen the Bridlington restaurant soon, but I just hope my customers will come back."

Sherforce declined to comment while the legal proceedings were active.