A family have been evicted from a caravan site after repeatedly burning toxic waste.
Over many months, Richard Willett was given numerous chances to stop engaging in what Wiltshire Council described as anti-social behaviour.
By dumping and burning rubbish – from general waste and wood to fibreglass insulation and fridges – he caused a nuisance to other residents and damage to the nearby environment.
The row with the council began when officers asked him to clear the significant pile of waste next to his pitch on Lode Hill Caravan Site in Downton, near Salisbury.
The rubbish mound was in a communal parking and turning area, but despite warnings and written notices, Willett failed to move the rubbish and continued to burn it.
Having failed to comply with the notices, he and his family were served a notice of eviction. Following a trial on 9 August, the council was granted outright possession of the plot.
The family were given until 23 September to leave, but they failed to do so and as a result, Willett and his family were forcibly evicted by bailiffs on Thursday (7 November).
“Evicting someone from one of our sites is always a last resort, and we would always look to resolve the situation with the tenant where we can”, Cllr Phil Alford, Cabinet Member for Housing, said.
Adding: “However, we have given Mr Willett every opportunity to stop dumping and burning significant volumes of toxic rubbish, but he has continued to do so, causing both a nuisance to other residents and significant environmental harm.
“This gave us no choice but to evict Mr Willett and his family from the site to ensure the wellbeing of other residents and also help protect the local environment.
“Since this case was reported to us, we have done all we can to encourage and then require Mr Willett to change his ways and stop his anti-social behaviour, but he refused to do so at every stage and was uncooperative with our officers.
“As this case shows, we continue to take all actions available to us to prevent and end anti-social behaviour on council property and we hope the residents adversely affected are reassured by how seriously we take such matters.”
