Couple fined over eyesore gardens

Two pensioners have been accused of spoiling the image of their village near Kidderminster by allowing their "once-magnificent'' gardens to become an eyesore.

Now the couple have landed a £1,530 court bill for failing to comply with an order to clear their garden of an accumulation of cars, tyres and undergrowth.

Alan Frank Riley, aged 78, and his wife Yvonne Marie, of Fairbairn House, Inn Lane, Hartlebury, pleaded guilty to failing to comply with an enforcement notice when they appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court yesterday.

Mrs Leonie Woodward, prosecuting on behalf of Wychavon District Council, said until 1990 the property had been described as "a magnificent residence set in magnificent gardens with a well-designed pond".

But she said that after the couple bought the property they had not maintained the gardens and "let nature take its course and rubbish had accumulated."

Mrs Riley said: "We have done quite a lot of work. The general state of the land has improved but not to the standard they would like."

She said that she suffered from cancer and had not been able to help her husband, and now had angina. Mr Riley said the descriptions given by the council "made the situation look worse than it was".

They were both fined a total of £500, ordered to pay costs of £250 each and £15 court costs.