A DAD banned from parking his vintage caravan on his own driveway has won a “David and Goliath” battle against his council.
Council bosses branded Mike Perkins’ 1972 Ford Transit Landliner CI “dilapidated” and said it was “damaging the area”.
But the 63-year-old stood his ground and Worcester City Council has now backed down from from the fight.
Perkins has spent 14 years restoring his beloved 1972 Ford Transit Landliner CI so he can take his family on camping holidays.
He kept the motor home on his drive outside his home in Worcester but was ordered to move it following a number of complaints.
Last month the dad-of-three received a letter from Worcester City Council telling him his “dilapidated” van “damages the amenity of the area”.
He was handed a section 215 notice of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 banning him from parking the van, and two other vehicles, in front of his house.
Mike removed a Mini pickup and a trailer from his property but appealed against the ban against parking the van, nicknamed ‘Bunty’, on his driveway.
He was due to appear in Worcester Civil Court on Tuesday but he has now won his “David and Goliath” battle after the council finally backed down.
A solicitor’s letter to Mike dated May 9 said: “Having assessed the current condition of the campervan, officers are satisfied that it is no longer dilapidated and can be returned to the land.”
Mike said he had already cleared up the driveway in February and cleaned the vehicles.
He added: “The really terrible thing is that the vehicle doesn’t look any different now to what it did in February after it was jet washed.
“Externally it doesn’t look any different. I feel relieved.
“If I had hired a barrister it would have cost me £2,500. Common sense prevailed at the 11th hour.”
He said repairing the vehicle had delayed the renovation of his home by three months.
The work on the motor home is still underway but so far he has spent £250 on new brakes, £75 on a fuel tank and £75 on a new carburettor.
Mike added: “The irony is that during its restoration, I received much support from passers-by.”
He said the council had not provided evidence of any complaints and “close neighbours consider the vehicles a talking point and have no other issue.”
He also argued that the campervan created more of a problem on the road, where it reduced available parking, than on his own drive.
If I had hired a barrister it would have cost me £2,500. Common sense prevailed at the 11th hour
Mike Perkins
The Sun has approached Worcester City Council for comment.
A Council spokesperson previously said: “Council officers issued a tidy-up notice which required the vehicle and trailer to be removed from the driveway and the waste to be tidied up.”
Mike previously said: “My initial thoughts were this is ‘David and Goliath’ and I’m David.
“If someone said to you, you could not park on your own drive, what would you do?
“I feel like I’m between a rock and a hard place. I can’t understand the lengths they are going to.”
His immediate neighbours called it “ridiculous” while another hailed the classic camper a “local landmark”.
Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is an part of the law that concerns amenity in a local planning area.
It gives the local authority the power to order the owner and occupier of the land to remedy “the condition of land in their area”.
It states: “The notice shall require such steps for remedying the condition of the land as may be specified in the notice to be taken within such period as may be so specified.”
The person served the notice is given 28 days to remedy whatever the conditions that the notice concerns despite you owning the driveway.
