The Clean Plate café is the scene of a police investigation after evidence was found of a body thought to be missing teenager Mary Bastholm, a suspected victim of Fred West.
Mary Bastholm worked at a sandwich shop, The Pop In, where The Clean Plate now stands, according to The Daily Mail Online.
Books by Brian Masters and Gordon Burn state West was a regular at the eatery and he carried out work on the building's drains – though Rose West’s solicitor Leo Goatley believes West may have been laying floor there.
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Goatley said: “I would think it very unlikely that Mary Bastholm was actually murdered or dismembered at the pop-in cafe.
“My concern is that she was abducted in a car, sexually abused and then killed and dismembered somewhere else.”
The café is located just five minutes’ walk away from 25 Cromwell Street, the ‘house of horrors’ where Fred and Rose West buried nine of their victims.
Mr Goatley added: “It is said that he told his son on a prison visit that he did kill Mary Bastholm and he would use it as a bargaining chip later on to get privileges whilst he was in prison.”
In 2012, a group of campaigners petitioned Gloucestershire Police to search the café.
The BBC reported that then Chief Constable Tony Melville told petition organisers there was "simply no evidence to support the idea that Mary is buried in that location."
The café is now run by volunteers and a few paid staff for The Nelson Trust, an addiction rehabilitation and women’s support charity based in Brimscombe.
The profits made at The Clean Plate, which has 4.5 stars on Tripadvisor, are reinvested into the community by delivering events and training to increase access to recovery for people in Gloucestershire.
A spokeswoman for The Nelson Trust said: “Our thoughts and sympathies are very much with the families affected by this long-running, tragic story.
“As soon as we were made aware of the situation, we have done everything we can to accommodate the investigation. The Clean Plate will remain closed until all necessary activity is complete.
“It is an extraordinary twist of fate that this building, now associated with a story as tragic as that of the victims of Fred and Rosemary West, is part of a charity working to support women at risk from violence.”
A white tent has been erected outside the Clean Plate as police search the building.
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