THE founder of Quiggins in Liverpool is accused of refusing to pay thousands of pounds in fees for expert help in the doomed battle to save his retail and cultural centre.

Urban planner Professor Iain Taylor is claiming Peter Tierney owes him more than £30,000.

This week, the matter went before Liverpool County Court and is expected to go to trial in the coming months.

Professor Taylor said he was hired by Mr Tierney when Quiggins, on School Lane, faced multi-million pound developer Grosvenor, in a high-profile public inquiry in 2003. The academic, now living in Canada, said that he struck a verbal contract with Tierney to pay him in the region of £11,000 for his services as a “campaign manager and expert witness”.

But Mr Taylor, 66, alleges that, other than an initial payment of £1,000 and some expenses, he received no money.

The former Liverpool Institute pupil said the outstanding £11,000 fee had trebled due to interest and expenses incurred over the last six years.

Mr Tierney declined to talk about the civil dispute with Prof Taylor. Grosvenor won a Compulsory Purchase Order to enable them to acquire the Quiggins to create a shopping arcade.