A LAND-OWNER in Wootton Wawen has been fined £2,000 for failing to comply with an enforcement notice from Stratford District Council.

Guy Jason Evans of Field Farm in Pennyford Lane was originally told to stop using the site as a scrap business in 1986 and issued with an injunction after he had used the farm to store scrap items, operating an unauthorised business from the land, as well as constructing an unauthorised building, which had been used by Henley Tyres.

He failed to comply with the injunction, and Stratford District Council brought a successful prosecution against Mr Evans for non-compliance of an Enforcement notice in August leading to him being fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £3,000.

As a result of the success, the district council continued with injunction proceedings to remove all unauthorised activities from the site, and a four day hearing took place at the High Court of Justice Queen’s Bench Division in Birmingham earlier this month.

Mr Evans now has six months to remove all unauthorised equipment and buildings from the site, or he is at risk of imprisonment.

Councillor Chris Williams, chairman of the regulatory committee, said: “This is a longstanding enforcement case and officers have worked very hard in obtaining this order for the land. The High Court judge agreed with the council that this was a case of a 'flagrant and sustained breach of planning control' and that the injunction was expedient and proportionate.”