The San Leonardu Band Club of Kirkop was today ordered to pay €54,000 in damages after a requision order on the club premises was declared null, but was not evicted.

The judgment was delivered by Mr Justice Joseph Azzopardi in the First Hall of the Civil Court following a writ filed against the Club by Carmel, Josephine, Philip and Michael Vella.

The family told the court that they owned the premises which the club had occupied since 1987 when a requisition order was issued. However, after judicial proceedings the requsition order was declared null and void. As a result, the club was occupying the premises without a legal title.

Although the club had been ordered by the courts to vacate the premises, it had failed to do so, and as a result the family had suffered damages including loss of items from the property and structural damage.

The court heard that the Vella family claimed that Lm20,000 (€46,587) worth of items had been lost from the property. The family's architect had also testified that it would be very difficult to restore the property to its original state.

The court ordered the club to pay the Vella family €54,000.