A Ramsgate man has been ordered to pay £25,000 in damages and interest and almost £4,000 in costs, following a long-running case over the use of a garden to keep scrap cars.
Thanet District Council first issued an enforcement notice against Anthony Thomas over his property in Ebbsfleet Lane, Ebbsfleet in 2005. It came after complaints from the general public about the number of cars being kept in the garden of the property.
He failed to comply with the notice and the council attempted to prosecute him for non-compliance. However, on a number of occasions, he failed to appear at Thanet Magistrates Court, citing ill health, meaning the case was not heard.
As a result, the council took direct action and carried out the work required in the enforcement notice. Officers, accompanied by the police and baliffs, visited the property in February 2007, and removed a total of 24 cars. Mr. Thomas was allowed to keep four cars on the property.
Following this, a claim was taken out by Mr. Thomas against the council, with the council taking out a counter-claim. Again, on a number of occasions, the case had to be deferred for a number of reasons.
On Monday (10 August), the case was due to be heard at Canterbury County Court, but Mr. Thomas did not attend. His Honour Judge Murdoch decided there should be no further adjournment of proceedings and instead heard evidence from two witnesses, on behalf of the council.
He struck out Mr. Thomas’ claim against the council and gave judgement for the council, with an order for Mr. Thomas to pay damages to the council of £21,961.25 plus interest, making a total of £25,001.77. He was also ordered to pay the council’s costs of £3,800.
Cllr. John Kirby, Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services & Ramsgate Marina, said: “This case sends out a strong message to those who think they can get away with flouting planning laws. The council has an excellent enforcement team, who work exceptionally hard to deal with often very complex issues. As this case shows, it can take a long time to get a result, but we have persevered here and been awarded the money which we are owed. That’s important, because this is council taxpayers’ money that we are talking about here, that everyone contributes towards.”
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