Thomas
Jefferies acted for the successful Council in this important Court of Appeal
decision on the extent of a council's duty to answer pre contractual  enquiries, and on whether its duty extended
to liability for development losses. The Claimant alleged that the Council had
negligently answered a question about whether the highway was maintainable at
the public expense, only to find that the land was subject to a dispute as to
its ownership. As a result, one of his proposed developments did not proceed.The Court held that the Council was only liable to provide
information available on the statutory list, and its duty did not extend to
providing more detailed answers for the purposes of a proposed development. 

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