A landowner and business boss who sold vehicles from his farm without permission was caught following a 'near miss' incident on his road.

Ian Evans pleaded guilty to breaching planning regulations when a vehicle sales business was run from a farm without permission.

Evans, who owns Roecliffe Farm, in New Packington, near Ashby, admitted the offence when he appeared at Leicester Magistrates' Court in a prosecution brought by North West Leicestershire District Council against Evans for carrying on activities namely a HGV sales business, which was required to cease under the terms of an enforcement notice.

Ben Evans who owns the HGV business also pleaded guilty to the same offence.

Planning permission to change the use of the farm to allow the HGV business to run from the premises was refused in January 2005, partly because of concerns over road safety, said a council spokesman.

Ian Evans pleaded guilty to breaching planning regulations. Illustrative image

A report of a ‘near miss’ incident on the road outside the farm involving a truck in August, 2017, led council officers to start an investigation, which showed that the HGV business was being run from the farm

The case has been transferred to Leicester Crown Court for sentencing on a date still to be fixed.

Speaking after the case, Councillor Alison Smith, deputy leader and portfolio holder for community services, said: "We’re very pleased that this prosecution has ended with a guilty plea after a lot of hard work from our investigation team.

"Planning regulations are there for a reason – to protect our landscape and our residents from activity and development that is detrimental to the area.

"In this case, planning permission was refused partly because of highways concerns, then a near miss car accident occurred. Thankfully, this was not serious and was reported to us, which has led to this successful prosecution and will end illegal business activity on the site.

"Simply ignoring planning regulations is not acceptable. We will pursue people who think they can act outside of the law."