Day of reckoning for Britain’s ‘worst fly tipper’ who faces a £100,000 fine after YEARS of illegal dumping

Britain’s worst fly-kicker has been threatened with jail if he does not pay £100,000 in fines and costs for turning a 40-acre beauty spot into a landfill.

Maidstone Council in Kent has spent almost a decade trying to pursue ‘neighbour from hell’ Langley Beck over its dumping campaign.

Now he has been fined £60,000 and must pay legal costs of £40,000 to the council within a year.

He must also clear the land and stop living on it. If he doesn’t, he will have to serve 16 months in prison.

Shocking aerial photos taken by a drone show the devastation he left behind on the site and what it looks like now.

Maidstone Council has spent significant sums and almost a decade pursuing Langley Beck over its 40-acre parcel of land in Boxley Woods

Langley Beck (pictured) has been fined £60,000 and must pay legal costs of £40,000 to the council within a year

Beck also has to clear the land and stop living on it. If he doesn’t, he will have to serve 16 months in prison

Dumped rubbish, cars, vehicles, rubbish, caravans and filth are scattered throughout the forest.

The authority launched enforcement action in 2014 after finding the 14-acre plot on the North Downs in Kent littered with broken down vehicles and rubbish.

Maidstone Borough Council took Beck to court and he was convicted on August 15.

The Maidstone County Court fined him £60,000, awarded costs of £40,000 to the Council and a victim surcharge of £170.

This must be paid by February 15, 2025 and the land must be cleared.

For the past 19 years, the municipality has tried to resolve the issue with Beck and took legal action in 2021.

Beck had previously ignored the requirements of a 2014 enforcement order to stop living on the land and unlawfully removing waste and car parts to restore the land.

The illegal terrain continued to expand and there was a constant threat of further damage to the area.

Maidstone Borough Council began enforcement action in 2014 after leaving the land (pictured) littered with rubbish

Mr. Beck has used the site as a dumping ground for old vehicles and other items

Tires strewn among the trees in Boxley Woods near Maidstone

Clive English, Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and Enforcement, said: ‘Mr Beck’s conviction should send a clear message that this type of illegal waste dumping will not be tolerated; it pollutes and destroys the land and surrounding areas.

“MBC has worked closely with its partner agencies to take the strongest possible action against people like Mr. Beck, who repeatedly flout the law.”

Tony Harwood, cabinet member for planning policy and management, added: ‘The council has worked hard to try to stop the catastrophic damage being done to this ancient woodland and secure a clean-up with the landowner – over many years. years, however he chose to ignore an enforcement order and then a full order.

‘Although this has been a long, complex and extremely difficult case, the outcome is appropriate and sends a strong message that Maidstone Borough Council will not tolerate abuse of our precious countryside.

“This sentence now puts an end to this specific criminal procedure, but we promise that we will take equally tough action against the other perpetrators against whom we are actively pursuing.”

Beck was previously described as having a ‘hoarding disorder’ in a parallel contempt of court case, for which he was given a suspended prison sentence.

Beck was due to be sentenced on April 5 last year over his plot at Boxley Woods, north of Maidstone in Kent, after being convicted of breaching planning rules.

But he turned up for the hearing at Maidstone Crown Court unrepresented by a lawyer and asked for an adjournment.

Beck had previously ignored the requirements of a 2014 enforcement order to stop living on the land

An overview of the site at Boxley Woods, located in the North Downs in Kent

The site (pictured) is located several miles outside Maidstone in an Area of ​​Outstanding Natural Beauty

He said he could not afford representation and was waiting for his Universal Credit application.

Another hearing is scheduled, with Beck facing an unlimited financial penalty.

Beck previously said he had suffered “21 years of persecution by those dirty, lying sons of b*****s (the council)” and described the hearing as “an invitation to a tie party.”