by Damien Sharkov
Police have arrested Nigel Smith, also known as Nigel Weston-Smith, over an alleged breach of a court order which instructed him to cease and desist from operating an unregistered caravan park in Manor Farm, Doncaster.
Prior to his arrest on Tuesday (20 August) Nigel had been handed a suspended prison sentence for failing to abide by an enforcement notice ordering him off the land.
The notice was served by Doncaster council in 2009 and despite an appeal the notice was upheld in the council’s favour.
After failing to comply with the notice twice, Nigel was taken to court in 2011 and pleaded guilty at his Sheffield Crown Court hearing last January.
He was fined £250,000 plus costs – the biggest planning fine in Doncaster within living memory and one of the biggest ever in the UK.
Until yesterday, however Nigel was still yet to leave the land he was legally ordered off, despite being given a one-year prison sentence, unless he vacated the site within 28 days.
The 57-year-old is currently awaiting a judge’s verdict as to whether he has complied with the notice to vacate the land, and the case has been adjourned for eight days.
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