'Saboteurs' driving car boot sale out of town

Sep 1 2009 By Adam Courtney, Surrey Herald

A MUCH-MALIGNED Shepperton car boot sale organiser says saboteurs and a "victimising" council are trying to drive him out of business.

David Smith, of Thames Car Boot Sales, has caused controversy in the village by setting up a regular car boot sale at The Ranges, in Chertsey Road.

Neighbours have been determined to put a halt to the scheme, asking people to boycott it and the council to ban it on grounds it is noisy and out of character with the area.

Mr Smith says events have taken a sinister turn and believes his business is being sabotaged, claiming:

Asbestos sheets have been dumped by the entrance to the field

Glue has been applied to gates

Toilets have twice been stolen from the site

Spelthorne Council has one rule for him and another for everyone else

Mr Smith said: "I am being victimised and it seems the council and residents are determined to drive me out of business. There have been a number of fly-tipping incidents, the worst being the asbestos, which the council is refusing to move.

"We cannot afford specialist teams to have it taken away. My brother and I wore masks to put it to one side. Our gates have had their locks glued three times and the toilets have been stolen twice."

Mr Smith caused outrage in the village in May when he advertised on a war memorial in the High Street, but says his signs have been taken down indiscriminately while advertising for other ventures has been left untouched.

He said: "Other signs advertising fun fairs and the like are up but we advertise and we get the sign taken down and a £750 fine.

"We've had residents down to the site to show them how we work.

"We're trying to be green but there's a couple of people who are determined to oppose us no matter what. And it doesn't help there are two councillors who live nearby."

Mr Smith has been granted permission for 14 events on the site. So far nine have been held and Mr Smith is determined to carry on.

A spokeswoman for Spelthorne Council said: "Fly-posting or the placing of posters advertising or promoting anything, including charity events, contravenes the Cleaner Neighbourhood Act which Spelthorne has adopted.

"The powers have enabled us to issue fixed penalty notices to help us tackle this increasing problem.

"We are not victimising anyone by taking down posters, we are enforcing the Act as we are required to. We have communicated with Mr Smith and advised him of the council's policy on posters and subsequent action that would be taken against him if he persisted in the placing of illegal notices.

"Following this advice, Mr Smith continued with exhibiting the posters and was then charged with the cost of taking them down. The Town & Country Planning (Control of Advertisements) Act 2007 permits travelling entertainment to place signage on the highway for limited periods of time and within guidelines incorporated into the act, which is why other posters for events such as funfairs are allowed to be displayed."