A COURT case against the owner of an unauthorised tyre storage site has been dropped after they agreed to clear the site.

Michael George Hughes, of Kingsdale Avenue, Menston, was due to appear in Bradford and Keighley Magistrates’ Court this month charged with failing to comply with an enforcement notice issued by Bradford Council in 2021.

The notice related to a site at 1394 Leeds Road, Bradford, that had been operating as a tyre storage site for a number of years without any permission in place.

But on the day Hughes was due to appear in court, Magistrates were told the case had been withdrawn by Bradford Council due to the enforcement notice having finally been complied with.

When asked for more detail, a Bradford Council spokesperson said: “This case has been withdrawn, as, following an enforcement notice and investigation, the site owner cleared the site of waste tyres.

“He accepted a caution for a first offence and paid the council’s costs.

“So, the matter has been concluded without the need for legal proceedings.”

The former tramshed site had been used for tyres storage for several years, despite a planning application for the use being refused by Bradford Council in 2015.

At the time planning officers said: “safe environments are not being created; there is a fear of crime and the proposal would overall undermine the quality of life for residents.”

The enforcement notice was issued in July 2021, and gave Hughes three months to “cease the unauthorised use of the site” and remove all tyres, waste and machinery from the site.

Giving reasons for the enforcement, the notice said: “The site is not safely accessible from the primary road network arising from the manoeuvring of large vehicles service the site and the local road conditions and features.

“There are further concerns regarding safe internal manoeuvring of vehicles on an increasingly congested parcel of land.

“Inherent within the unauthorised use are issues of noise and dust generation from the use of heavy machinery and processing waste tyres.

“The use is not contained within a structure and the enforcement site is closely located to residential properties.

“There are design concerns and fear of crime due to the location of the site in close proximity to residential property in an urban area, the openness of the site and a previous tyre fire on the site.”

That fire took place in 2015, involved over 1,000 tyres and required neighbouring homes to be evacuated.