Illegal car wash at former Three Crowns Inn told to close
Operators of an illegal car wash at a former pub site have been formally told to move off by council chiefs after ignoring demands for more than six months.
The Three Crowns Inn, at Sutton Road, Walsall, shut down in 2007 with the car wish given temporary permission to occupy the land.
But last December Walsall Council ordered the operators to cease and leave the site within two weeks.
As a counter move the businessmen submitted an application to carry on for two years which was later turned down in May when council officials discovered workers were living there in a caravan.
Councillor Mohammad Nazir, chair of the authority's planning committee, confirmed the council has now approved enforcement action against the business.
The order gives them three months to comply with more than a dozen conditions which includes cleaning up the land and repairing any damage caused.
A council report states: "The long term use of the site for a hand car wash is considered unacceptable as it has a detrimental impact on the visual amenity, of this prominent site and on the surrounding area, which is also important due to the location within the greenbelt."
