An events venue which has been around for more than a quarter of a century is to close its restaurant, putting a number of jobs at risk.

The Olympic in Beechenlea Lane, Swanley, is run by Swanley Town Council and has been operating at a loss for at least 10 years.

Despite changes being brought in to try to make it turn a profit, the council has decided enough is enough.

The centre will remain open for events, conferences and private hire, as well as the bowls and golf driving clubs, but the daily restaurant is to shut.

The decision was taken during a full council meeting and was voted on unanimously by the
14 councillors who were there, out of 16.

A consultation was launched to alert staff to possible redundancies as now nine people are facing upheaval.

The council has promised that five full-time members of staff will be kept on. One person has already accepted voluntary redundancy.

Council leader Victor Southern said: “We are looking to see if the remaining staff can be relocated elsewhere.

“The Olympic centre has been losing money for years.

“It probably should have been partially closed eight, nine, 10 years ago but nobody likes to be the one to do it and receive the bad publicity.

“We cannot keep putting
council tax payers’ money into this, to be losing tens of thousands of pounds each year.

“It’s like a bad marriage. You want to keep it going for the sake of the kids but eventually you have to accept you can’t continue.”

The costs of food, staffing and maintenance of the rarely busy restaurant, he said, put it in the firing line.

GMB, the union for local government workers, has criticised the council for not consulting Swanley residents before making the decision, and making the announcement right before Christmas.

It comes just a week after Cllr Tony Searles was replaced as the Conservative whip on the town council, and resigned as deputy mayor and as the finance portfolio holder for Sevenoaks council amid sexual harassment and disability discrimination claims, which he denies.