A man who breached planning rules by building a site for travellers and refusing to back down over it was taken to court and made to pay over £1,500.

John Ward, aged 22, breached a planning enforcement notice when he started building the site on a field in Edgcott, between Aylesbury and Bicester, without planning permission.

Ward, of Hever Road in Edenbridge, Kent, was seeking permission to build four pitches for caravans in a field in Lawn Hill, but travellers moved in before work had even begun.

Bucks Council issued a Ward with a temporary stop notice in May 2021 when he started building work on the site before acquiring planning permission. Planning permission to change the use of the field from agricultural to use for traveller pitches is still yet to be granted.

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Ward breached the stop notice when he continued to lay hardstanding on the site, as well as bringing several mobile homes onto the field.

After initiating legal proceedings against Ward, Bucks Council took him to court on May 18 after he pleaded guilty to contravening the planning notice.

Ward was fined £320 and ordered to pay a further £1,434 in costs.

Peter Strachan, Bucks council cabinet member for planning and regeneration, said: "I’m pleased to see that the perpetrator has been caught and brought to justice.

"Even though we are not taking any legal action against the others named on the planning application, Mr Ward was handed a £320 fine and made to pay court and Council costs a total of £1,434.

"This should be a warning to others breaching temporary stop notices, that wherever and however you commit this crime, we will identify and prosecute you."