A MAN has been ordered to pay over £3,000 after a plot of land on a residential street was used by a construction business for years without planning permission.

Michael Haley pleaded guilty to breaching an enforcement notice when he appeared at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court on Tuesday.

He appeared on video-link from prison, where he is serving a sentence for fraud.

The case was brought by Bradford Council, and related to a plot of land on Railway Street - off Tong Street in Bierley.

The Council had received complaints that the land was being used by a business that hires out machinery. No planning permission for such a use had ever been granted, and the unauthorised use had dated back as far as 2016.

An enforcement notice was issued in July 2019 - ordering that within three months all the vehicles on the site, as well as any storage buildings, were removed. When this did not happen the Council began court action.

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The charge related to the period between October 17 2019 February 3 2020 - although the court heard the unauthorised use was still continuing.

Haley, 40, who gave his address as Helena Way, was registered owner of the land, and was charged with breaching an enforcement notice. He told Magistrates that he did not own the land, but admitted it was listed as being in his name.

He claimed he had no idea of what was happening on the site.

Harjit Ryatt, prosecuting, said: “The notice required him to cease the use of the land - it was being used as a depot where machinery like excavators were stored. Large vehicles related to the site are also stored on the residential street, which has a big impact on the people living in that locality.”

He said around half a dozen large vehicles were often at the site. And the court was told that Council staff had visited earlier that morning and found the unauthorised use was still taking place.

Haley was registered as the owner of the land, but failed to respond when the Council inquired about the unauthorised use. Mr Ryatt said: “Haley had the right to appeal the notice and he did not exercise that right.”

Joanne Lata, defending, said Haley had been in prison for the last 13 months, and hadn’t been aware of the legal proceedings until recently. She said: “He owns the land in name only. He sold it seven years ago and doesn’t know what activity is going on there.”

She said he sold the site and was being paid in instalments. When he received his final payment he would officially sign the land over.

Explaining his guilty plea, she said: “He had not necessarily allowed it to happen - but he had no control of it. He should have known what was going on.”

Mr Ryatt pointed out that until the unauthorised use of the land ended, the Council would continue to pursue the enforcement notice.

The defendant would need to sort out the ownership issue if he wanted to avoid another court appearance.

Magistrates fined Haley £1,000. He was also ordered to pay costs to the Council totalling £1,944 and a surcharge of £100.