Peterborough man fined more than £5,000 for illegal use of land

Peterborough City Council prosecuted Imran Khan of Clarence Road, Peterborough, for using 787 Lincoln Road for a car repairs business. The approved use of the land and buildings was for storage.

The court heard that in 2013 the owner rented the premises to a tenant who used them as a tyre fitting business. The city council deemed this to have an unacceptable impact on nearby homes and increased the risk of an accident for people using the footpath on Lincoln Road.

The city council served a planning enforcement notice in 2013 that required the owner and tenant to ‘end the use of the premises for the maintenance, including tyre fitting, of any vehicle, including taxis and private hire vehicles’ by 16 October 2013. The tyre fitting business ended in early 2014.

In October 2015 the tenant started using the premises for car repairs and sales which was still prevented by the planning enforcement notice. Despite warnings to the owner (and tenant) from the council, the owner failed to prevent the tenant from breaching the enforcement notice. The city council therefore prosecuted the owner to bring the unauthorised use of the premises to an end.

Mr Khan appeared before Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, August 17, and pleaded guilty to the unauthorised use of 787 Lincoln Road for a car repairs business. He was fined £3,600 and ordered to pay costs of £2,000.

Councillor Peter Hiller, cabinet member for growth, planning, housing and economic development, said: “We repeatedly tried to work with the landowner and on numerous occasions informed him that he was operating against planning policy.

“We don’t prosecute people without good reason and in this situation court action was taken as a last resort to bring an end to an unacceptable development that was causing a nuisance to neighbours and the wider community.

“I hope this case serves as a warning to other landowners that they are responsible if they allow their tenants to use their land without the necessary planning permission or if they are in breach of a planning enforcement notice.

“Having good planning control over the use of buildings and land is essential to ensuring that our city and its communities remain an attractive and desirable place to live and work.”