A HUSBAND and wife hoping to run two American-style diners in Oxfordshire are to liquidate their business.

Claire and Jonathan Hilsdon opened their first Chariots and Cherry Pie restaurant on the A420 near Buckland in June, and were opening another in the former Volunteer pub in Grove.

They have now appointed London chartered accountancy firm SPW to help liquidate the business assets and pay off its debts.

Insolvency practitioner Steve Taylor said: “The company will be going into liquidation on November 17.

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“Any assets will be released by the liquidator and any funds left after the cost of liquidation will be distributed to the creditors.”

Mr Taylor would not say what the company’s assets were worth, how many employees it had or any other details.

The Hilsdons admitted in September they had been unable to pay more than 20 staff at the Buckland restaurant while they waited for a £49,000 tax rebate.

The couple said they had had a “horrendous” fortnight as they also came up against building problems trying to open a £1m new branch on the A338 in Grove.

Sian Mundy, 23, of Grove, waitressed at Buckland and had thought she would be helping to manage the Grove branch.

She said: “We never got paid on time, from the first pay cheque, but as it was a new business we didn’t really worry.

“We got on with them really well. We just worked our socks off for them.”

Mr and Mrs Hilsdon bought the Volunteer, in Station Road, Grove, for £330,000 last year.

They planned to spend £1m transforming it into a 100-cover diner, car wash and 11-bedroom motel employing 35 staff.

Speaking to the Oxford Mail in September, Mrs Hilsdon said the £49,000 cheque from HM Revenue and Customs was in the post and the Grove branch would open on Friday, September 12.

The mother-of-four pledged then: “With the support of everyone in Wantage and Grove we will make this diner a success.”

Miss Mundy, a former King Alfred’s, Wantage pupil, said: “That wasn’t realistic, it wouldn’t have been ready.”

Mr and Mrs Hilsdon came up against their first hurdle last December when Network Rail applied to close the A338 next to the Grove pub for up to six months to rebuild a rail bridge.

Permission was refused by Oxfordshire County Council but later, in the middle of transforming the Grove pub, Mrs Hilsdon said they realised they would have to add a rear exit for cars, which then required further work.

The Oxford Mail was unable to contact Mr and Mrs Hilsdon for comment.