A St Erth man has been fined over £2,000 over his failure to remove a caravan, the two storage containers, vehicles and a variety of other woodworking business items from land after a planning enforcement decision.

David Leak of Chenhalls Road, St Erth appeared before District Judge Mitchell at Truro County Court on Tuesday 21 January in respect of the Council’s "application for an injunction to secure compliance with a Planning Enforcement Notice".

The Council served an enforcement notice in February 2009 which required Mr Leak to remove the caravan, the two storage containers, all the materials, equipment, vehicles, the hard surface and other paraphernalia associated with his wood working business from the land in St Erth.

Mr Leak unsuccessfully appealed the notice, and should have complied with the requirements by April 2010.

The council says that attempts to encourage compliance with the notice were unsuccessful; and they prosecuted Mr Leak for the failure to comply in March 2012.

Adding "Despite this, Mr Leak continued to reside on the land in breach of the Notice, which is a continuing criminal offence."

Hayley Jewels, the council’s enforcement group leader, said: “The Council had no choice but to apply to the court for an injunction as it was considered that no lesser steps would remedy the breach of planning control.

Mr Leak has continued to flout planning laws for over four years. It is a shame that a resolution could not have been reached sooner without the need for such serious legal action, but repeated breaches of planning control will not be tolerated and the Council will continue to ensure that the integrity of the planning system is upheld”.

Mr Leak has been ordered to comply with the requirements of the notice by April 22. Failure to comply with a Court Injunction may lead to a fine and/or imprisonment. Mr Leak was also ordered to pay £2002.60 towards the Council’s costs.