The reopening of Enfield Town Library’s café has been delayed due to a botched procurement process.

The café has been closed since August last year after the previous operators decided not to extend their lease.

Enfield Council confirmed that the process of finding a new operator would have to be re-run because a previous bid did not follow the correct procedure.

The café is expected to be back open before Christmas

The Conservative group has criticised the council for its handling of the procurement process.

Conservative leader Cllr Joanne Laban said: “Enfield Town Library is a great facility and it is a real shame that it has been closed so long.

“The procurement failures will mean that it will continue to be vacant for some time. This is not good news for the community. When it comes to procurement Enfield Council really needs to improve.”

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “Enfield Council has a robust tendering process and has a legal responsibility to make sure any undertaking is competitive, fair and transparent.

“By re-starting the tendering process for this location, we believe that we can achieve the right outcome for users and the council.”