A MAN from Wootton Wawen has been given a two-year suspended prison sentence for the illegal operation of a scrap business.

Following a three-day court hearing, Guy Jason Evans of Field Farm, Pennyford Lane, was told to remove all items stored on the land connected to the business by April 11 and that afterwards he must continue to comply with the order or face six months in prison for contempt.

Councillor Chris Williams, chairman of regulatory committee, said: “The Council does not relish in taking legal proceedings against breaches of any law but this case is a good example of how all other methods of enforcement action had been taken and yet the owner continued to carry out the unauthorised activities which were causing significant harm.

“This action was against a flagrant and persistent breach of the court order. Legal proceedings are usually costly on the public purse which is another reason why this course of action is not taken lightly, but in this case it is pleasing to see that Evans has been ordered to pay the council’s costs as well as receiving the custodial sentence.”

At the beginning of February, the Queens Bench Division, accepted the district council’s application for committal proceedings against the owner of Field Farm, in respect of the failure to comply with an injunction order issued by the same court in December 2013.

This previously follows a four-day court hearing in December 2013 where the district council sought an injunction against unauthorised activities on the land.

In August 2013, Stratford-on-Avon District Council successfully prosecuted Evans for non-compliance of an enforcement notice.

Evans was fined £2,000 and the court ordered him to pay the district council’s costs of £3,000.