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Tottenham speak out on claims they charged council five-figure sum to host food bank on car park

Tottenham Hotspur speak out on claims they charged Haringey council a five-figure sum to host a food bank on their stadium car park.

The new Spurs stadium opened up during the coronavirus pandemic as it housed the North Middlesex Hospital Women’s Outpatient Services and was used to operate drive-through testing and swabbing for NHS staff.

The venue was also used to make over 1,000 face shields per week for medical staff and nurses on the front-line of the pandemic, back in April when the Premier League season was halted.

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Spurs is mostly owned by Bahamas-based billionaire Joe Lewis and his partner Daniel Levy, who this year brought in £7 million – making him the highest-paid executive in the Premier League.

The club caused controversy during lockdown when announcing that they would furlough 550 of their non-playing staff – a decision that then saw Spurs make a U-turn after a backlash from the fans, who pointed out that the club is the eighth richest in the world.

As part of an effort to “make them proud”, Levy allowed the club’s stadium’s air-conditioned basement car park to be used as a food hub – set up by Haringey council and run by volunteers, who delivered supplies to vulnerable people.

Spurs have come out and defended themselves against the reports that the club hit their local Council with a bill over £30,000 for using the underground car park at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as a food bank.

The Private Eye claimed that Spurs passed on a bill of £33,280 to the council for additional security and cleaning in the underground car park.

However, the report confirms that it was the council who requested and offered to pay for the addtional services and that it was not Tottenham just passing on the bill.

Responding to the reported bill, a spokesperson for Tottenham is quoted as saying: “The club established the food distribution hub at our stadium in April in collaboration with Haringey council to serve some of the most vulnerable people within our community and every single cost to deliver this operation has been absorbed by Haringey council and the club.

“Any costs paid by Haringey were those paid to third-party suppliers and no costs whatsoever have been passed to any charitable organisation involved in this project.

“The third-party costs were requested by Haringey as additional services. The club did not pass on any costs which it itself incurred and covered several other costs too.”

Daniel Levy recently spoke as Tottenham Hotspur Stadium’s time housing hospital services ends.

“We are extremely proud of how successful the transferal of North Middlesex’s Women’s Outpatient Services to the stadium has been during these unprecedented times,” said Levy.

“I have seen first-hand how much of a lift being within the stadium setting has given the hard-working staff and how comforting the experience has been for patients that have visited.

“Whilst we are encouraged that NHS services can now safely return to the hospital, we are aware that the fight against COVID-19 is far from over and the Club will continue to offer its assistance to our community in any way we can.”

Maria Kane, Chief Executive of North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, said: “It’s hard to express how grateful we are to Tottenham Hotspur, and how much of a positive impact the Club’s generosity has had on local health services during this pandemic.

“On behalf of our patients, staff and local community, I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone at Tottenham Hotspur, especially chairman Daniel Levy, and all the stadium staff, for their selfless hard work in making this partnership so beneficial for our shared local population.”

Fans reacted as Tottenham speak out on claims they charged the local council a five-figure sum to host a food bank on their car park…

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