October 5, 2018 9.41 am This story is over 64 months old

Scrap yard garden lands man with huge fine

He was ordered to pay over £4,000

A man from Boston must pay over £4,000 after being prosecuted for using his garden as an illegal scrapyard.

Peter Hall, the owner of 11 Grand Sluice Lane, Boston, pleaded guilty when he appeared before Boston Magistrates Court on September 24 where he was ordered to pay a total of £4003.71.

He was also made subject of a Criminal Behaviour Order requiring him to remove all the waste stored in his garden and to stop him bringing more waste onto the property in the future.

The court said Mr Hall had been given ample opportunity to comply and they gave him a basic fine of £1,000, but because the offence had been going on for a long time they raised this by a further £1,960 to make a total fine of £2,960.

There was also a victim surcharge of £170 plus the council’s legal costs of £873.71, making a total payment of £4003.71.

The court also ordered that Mr Hall cleared the garden within 28 days and stops storing waste material at any other property that he lives at.

He said his son was now dealing with it and hoped to have the garden clear by the end of October.

Problem ongoing for several years

Boston Borough Council first received complaints in 2014 from neighbours who said that Mr Hall was using his garden to store various waste materials.

Mr Hall did not live at the property but was using the garden to store waste that he collected from elsewhere.

The council took action against him and asked that he clear the garden but he failed to do so and he subsequently ignored a legal notice that was served.

Despite repeated requests by the council that Mr Hall clear his garden of waste, he failed to do so. The council took legal action against him in order to protect neighbours from the anti-social behaviour.

Boston Borough Council’s portfolio holder for regulatory services, Councillor Paul Skinner said: “Mr Hall was given every opportunity by the council to stop using his garden as, in effect, a scrap yard, but he refused to cooperate.

“The council, faced with complaints from neighbours whose lives were clearly being adversely impacted by Mr Hall’s anti-social behaviour, felt that it had no choice but to use its legal powers.

“We hope that he will now finally clear his garden of all the waste materials. If he does not then the council will take further legal action against him.”