Couple lose battle over “scrapyard” garden in Emley

Nov 27 2010 Huddersfield Daily Examiner

VILLAGE gardens are often full of roses and wisteria and lavender.

John and Janet Richardson filled theirs with scrap cars, old tyres and bags of rubbish.

Now the couple have been ordered by a court to clean up their Emley garden – labelled “a dumping ground”.

The Richardsons lost a court battle over Kirklees Council orders to tidy up the land.

The council used environment powers to take action, even though the house and garden is privately owned.

Now the couple have been told they must remove the scrap cars, old tyres and bags of rubbish that have blighted the property at Windmill Hill Lane.

The clean-up ruling was issued by Huddersfield magistrates after a two-day hearing.

The council had taken the issue to court after the couple had ignored previous instructions.

Now the court has ordered the Huddersfield home owners to clean up their “dumping ground” property.

And they have also been ordered to pay out thousands of pounds to meet the council’s legal bill.

A Kirklees spokesman said: “The council’s public protection team contacted the Richardsons after complaints that their gardens contained 12 scrap vehicles, piles of vegetation, tyres, rubble, scrap metal and bags of waste.