Scrap supplier might be jailed if he would not clear up 600 tons of garbage together with graveyard of Henry vacuum cleaners and Cozy Coupe toy vehicles from magnificence spot

A scrap dealer will be jailed if he doesn’t clear up 600 tons of rubbish, including a ‘graveyard’ of Henry vacuum cleaners and Cozy Coupe toy cars, from a beauty spot.

Paul Fenton, 59, has been accused of wrecking a wildlife haven and being ‘wholly selfish’ through his hoarding of rubbish at his unofficial scrapyard at Flowton near Hadleigh, Suffolk.

His ‘absolute eyesore’ of a dump is behind locked gates on a two-acre plot at the site of a medieval flint pit, surrounded by rolling fields and historic woodland

The rubbish on the site includes dozens of Henry vacuum cleaners and piles of old children’s toy cars, tractors and buggies.

The collection of pedal and foot-powered vehicles includes a large number of iconic red and yellow Cozy Coupe cars.

Local residents are mystified about why Fenton is keeping the decaying objects, many of them covered in mould and discoloured by the sun at the site known as Flowton Pit.

Suffolk County Council has prosecuted Fenton four times in 2001, 2007, 2010 and 2012 over his eyesore dump. He was also given a suspended jail sentence in 2021 for allowing cocaine to be packaged at a drug factory in a shipping container on his land.

But despite being repeatedly fined thousands of pounds and made subject to Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, he has failed to clean up the site over the last two decades.

Council chiefs finally took him to the High Court last week where a judge made an interim order requiring him to carry out ‘lawful arrangements’ to remove ‘all waste materials’ from his site within three months.

The order made by Her Honour Judge Crane at the King’s Bench Division on November 27 also requires him not use the land for the deposit or storage of waste in the future.

A council statement said that the judge determined that Fenton ‘has no legitimate right to use the land in this way, noting the necessity of the interim injunction and proportionality given the history and duration’.

Fenton of Gaell Crescent, Hadleigh, did not respond to any pre-action letters over the case, and did not attend or have representation at the High Court.

He now faces a potential jail sentence under Contempt of Court laws if he fails to obey the injunction.

The council estimates there is 300 to 600 tonnes of what it calls ‘domestic and commercial waste’ on his land with ‘a real variety of items including caravans, vehicles, car parts, wood, scrap metal, and oil tanks’.

Fenton has made no comment about the injunction and did not open his door to a reporter who called at his home where his letterbox was sealed up with yellow tape to prevent deliveries.

Chris Chambers, the Suffolk County Council Cabinet Member for Transport Strategy, Planning and Waste, said: ‘We will not stand for the actions of people like Mr Fenton, whose behaviour is wholly selfish with no regard for others.

‘Previous successful prosecutions against him have clearly not had any impact, so we had no choice but to take the case to the High Court and seek this injunction.

‘His choice not to dispose of waste in a legal manner affects local businesses who make a positive contribution to our economy by paying the appropriate charges and taxes for disposal.

‘Mr Fenton’s actions have also had a longstanding effect on the local community and environment – impacting rural and residential amenities, access and possible destruction of badger setts.’

A villager added: ‘His site is an absolute eyesore and a blot on the landscape. People in the area have bore holes, and there are concerns that the rubbish he dumps could contaminate the water supply.

‘It is a mystery why he is so fond of Cozy Coupe cars and Henry vacuum cleaners. The place is like a graveyard for them. Maybe he likes the smiley faces on the cleaners.’

Fenton was last fined £5,000 and ordered to pay £3,712 in costs at Ipswich Crown Court in April 2013 after he admitted five offences of breaching an enforcement notice and five offences of contravening a stop notice in relation to the pit.

He was also made the subject of an ASBO for five years after the court heard at an earlier hearing how the council had issued notices in 2000 requiring him and his former wife Susan Fenton to stop dumping waste material on the land.

Fenton appeared in court for breaching the orders in 2001 and 2007 before being fined and ordered to pay costs of £35,000, and getting first ASBO after admitting 10 offences in 2010.

The hearing in 2013 was told how a council monitoring and enforcement officer found piles of brick and concrete rubble and a tipper truck at the site.

Fenton told the court at the time that he had not run a business in the UK since he was given his ASBO in 2010 and had been trying to sell his land while living in Bulgaria.

Ipswich Crown Court heard in August 2021 how a shipping container in his yard was used as a makeshift factory for the cutting and packaging of cocaine

Christopher Southart, 35, of Harwich, Essex, who was found on the site with packages of the Class A drug worth up to £25,000 admitted conspiracy to supply cocaine and was jailed for 98 months.

Kevin Parr, 60, of Harwich was found guilty of the same charge after a trial and admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply. He was jailed for 54 months.

Fenton admitted permitting premises to be used for the production of class A drugs, and was given a 24-month prison sentence, suspended for 24 months, and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work.