A MAN accused of using his land for illegal dumping has lost his appeal against council enforcement action.

Now Ben Carden has been given three months to cease all work and to clean up the eyesore in Pottersheath.

The land in question is one hectare at the junction of Danesbury Park Road and Pottersheath Road.

Mr Carden ran a landscape gardening business from the site, living there in a caravan and using extra containers for storage.

But North Herts District Council officers discovered he also allowed builders to dump rubble there, together with considerable amounts of additional soil to increase the land level. This included the creation of a number of earth bunds.

Mr Carden claimed to be a farmer, which meant he would have been allowed to run such a business without full planning permission.

However, following numerous complaints from neighbours and after a long process of gathering evidence, council officers served an enforcement notice on Mr Carden in February, requiring him to remove the caravan and containers and to tidy up the site.

The planning inspector has now rejected Mr Carden’s appeal, ordering him to remove his mobile home, storage containers and stop all earth works, waste dumping and business activity inside the next three months.

In a statement, Cllr Tom Brindley, portfolio holder for planning and transport, said: “I am very pleased to have won this ruling, which follows a lot of painstaking work by our officers.

“It demonstrates we will defend our attractive countryside from those who are intent on spoiling it, and it shows offenders we will not roll over.”